Living Legend Book 3 The Long Story
by KesseliaBanta
Summary: Third of a trilogy.
1. Chapter 23

**Star Wars**

**Living Legend – Book 3 – The Long Story**

**Cass Eastham 1997**

**Chapter 23**

Out of sight, out of mind. 

The burden of reality hadn't seemed so heavy until it was lifted from their shoulders. Rank insignias and military uniforms were buried deep in the lockers. There were no watchful eyes of pilots or repair grunts, politicians or roommates, not even droids. Nobody knew they were on Dagobah; and even if they did, nobody knew where Dagobah _was_. Only Leia knew how to reach them and she wasn't going to call unless she absolutely had to. Luke and Kess were as alone as they were going to get.

Kess stopped walking and reached her arms out to her sides, calling loudly (and slightly annoyed) into the life Force of the buzzing jungle. "Alone, that is, except for the Ethereal Guild Of Dead Jedi Knights!" 

Luke had paused in front of her and turned to see her boisterous display. He bit his lips together and scanned the jungle for any glowing bodies to appear in its dark corners. Kess looked around as well, but obviously not so nervous about getting in trouble. She _wanted_ her grandfather to blink on again so she could get the story about the man's conflicting histories. But the echo of her yell disintegrated back into loud ticks of beetles and wild cawing of even wilder birds. 

Realizing that no one was going to show up to dispute her immature complaint, she looked at Luke and smirked as though she had gotten the last word. 

Luke met her eye, fighting his grin, and wagged a finger at her, "You'd better be careful." He turned his back to her and climbed over a tree root that rose four feet out of the ground. 

"Careful!?" Kess waited for him to jump off to the other side before she pulled her own body on top of the bald root, but stopped there and straddled it, waving a hand at him. "It's bad enough I've got my father complaining about everybody I try to bring home, much less _you_, and I've got good old grandpa out there somewhere ready to pop up just to make sure I stay celibate!"

"Well, he didn't pop up last night." He stopped under mud dripping trees and turned to her with a raised eyebrow, "did he?"

Kess raised an eyebrow back at him and slid off the root, "I didn't exactly break my celibate streak last night either." She crossed her arms and raised her chin, "did I?"

Luke grinned and shook his head, "You are pathetic!" he growled playfully into the brush. His boots sank into dingy blue moss as he kept hiking back to the camp. "I give you one little inch and you complain because you don't get the whole mile!"

Kess sauntered to him and cooed, "I don't want a whole mile." She brought pinching fingers in front of her crinkled smile. "I just want seven more little inches."

Luke stopped in his tracks and turned to her with a scolding glare, but after the amount of teasing he'd gotten today, he was having a hard time not laughing at everything. He bit his lips together to keep from smiling and tried to think of something witty to say.

She stepped up until she almost bumped into him, hung a hand from a tree branch at her shoulder, set the other on her hip, and lightly shrugged. "Okay, six more inches." She looked boldly up into his narrow eyes and could sense the glow of humor that was hiding behind them. Her eyebrow raised sheepishly, "Five more?"

Luke blinked, looked away, licked his lowered lip, and started walking again. He took a sharp left to get around another giant cypress root. He wasn't offended, not even embarrassed (well, not really) but he knew that this conversation was going to get them both in a lot of trouble if it continued in this direction. And, for the life of him, he could not think of anything to say that would steer it to safety. He sighed heavily, but not disappointedly, and shoved his hands in his pockets.

Kess stepped around the tree to follow him and chuckled at his fitful silence. "You don't even know, do you?" She could see the geometric shapes of a metal hull beyond the shrubbery. She began to wonder if she had taken the teasing a little too far this time and finally dropped the sarcasm. "But I guess if I had gone without for eight years I probably wouldn't remember either."

Luke cleared the wall of jungle and strutted into the camp without looking at her, "Ten years," he corrected as though he were proud of it. "I've been a Jedi for eight." His black boots splashed in a shallow puddle and then he ducked into the ship. 

Kess followed him a few steps behind and slid her hands into the front pockets of her mud-smudged pants. He came to the tiny galley and pulled a full bottle of water out of cold storage. She strolled up to him and her shoulder fell against the wall. Her lip curled at him in teasing curiosity, "Do you remember how to use it?"

The blue of his eyes twinkled despite his desperate fight to keep from smiling, "Wouldn't you like to know?" He started chuckling as soon as he said it and gulped down several long swigs of fresh, cool water. He licked his lips of a wandering drop and his whole face glowed at her.

Kess bowed her head and giggled at him. He handed her the bottle and she was still grinning when she drank from it. There were specks of mud in her braids and on her baggy shirt from today's lame version of serious training, but remembering the enormous splash when she dropped three boulders in a swamp right in front of them, he was sure his attire wasn't any cleaner.

They had laughed more than they managed anything else today. Verbal teasing and glowing smiles got in the way of any actual training. Luke wasn't worried about trying to crack the whip today, anyway. It was enough of a task just to keep his hands to himself and she seemed to be having the same issues. In a way, it was easier. Flirting was no longer forbidden even though whispering promises and groping still were. But then, with the way she flirted, it was probably a good thing that the other stuff was still off limits.

Kess had understood his full intentions last night (or lack thereof) even though he couldn't find the words to explain it in detail. She had given her snide insinuations free rein on her tongue but hadn't let herself reach for him all day long. She wouldn't even let herself touch him in jest. 

Luke knew that part of it was because she didn't want to abuse the new freedom and get it yanked away from her again, but the other part was that, deep down, Kess really wanted to get through this training in one piece. The rules haven't been found and the regulations were hazy and all the good intentions in the galaxy would not protect her from the dark side. She had realized on her own how close she had come to turning in Rogue Twelve, and a good portion of her frisky impulsiveness immediately evaporated.

As it had happened more than once already today, the laughter in her eyes quickly died. She stared at nothing in the tiny berthing compartment and absentmindedly sucked down another sip of the water. Luke's happiness melted with her mood. He dropped his back against the wall behind him, watching her stroll mournfully to the bunk and slump down onto the bare mattress. 

The dark side had not come up in conversation today. Nor did Darth Vader, or Mugwot Pon, or the Usak. She asked no questions about his past. She presented not one debate about the mysteries of the Force. She kept turning back to the flirting, twisting his every statement into sexually-slanted merriment, and then the sparkle in her eyes would vanish for a moment or two until she could think of something else to distract herself with.

She was scared, and Luke completely understood why.

The jungle noises didn't drift into the ship enough to be noticed, and the deep rumble of power that usually filled the background was silent. His breathing seemed to echo against the metal bulkheads and his voice sounded louder than the gentle whisper her meant to use. "You know, I almost turned to the dark side once," he admitted casually.

Kess looked up with a wrinkled nose like she wasn't sure whether to believe him or not, but dropped her gaze again in silence.

Luke strolled over to the bunk with his arms folded at his chest and explained. "Emperor Palpatine was sitting on his throne, gloating at me, and my father was standing behind me. . . . and they gave me two choices: turn to the dark side or die." He tried to say it matter-of-factly, but weight of the subject wouldn't let his voice brighten that much. 

After a moment of silence, Kess took a swig of the water bottle like she wished it were hard liquor instead.

Luke sat down on the bunk and leaned his back up against the railing. "He told them to fire at will, and the first ship that went was the Liberty. . . ." His voice died as he remembered her story of Rix. "He did it just to piss me off," his jaw tightened, "and it worked."

Sober brown eyes flicked to him.

"I fought my father with everything I had," he continued quietly, dropping his gaze to his lap. "He used me to pull the Rebellion into a trap. He threatened to turn Leia. . . " Luke pulled his eyes back up to face her and raised his cyborg hand in the air. "I pounded him so hard that I managed to slice off his hand." His pulled his fingers into a fist and dropped it. "And my lightsaber was practically coming down on his head by the time I realized what I was doing."

Kess turned her body to him, leaning back against the opposite railing, and whispered timidly, "What did you do?"

Luke almost smiled at her, "I _stopped_. . . . I took a deep breath and threw my lightsaber down. . . ." Blue eyes stared into the memory for a moment. Then he gritted his teeth and brought his claws into the air, but there was a bittersweetness in his eyes of a lesson learned. "And that's when the Emperor attacked me with those blasted lightning bolts of his." His tone lightened in bitter sarcasm, "I could've fully powered a Corvette Runner with a single touch of my finger."

A devious grin grew on her face. "With a single touch, you fully charge _me_."

The pilot arrogance brightened intently in his eyes and the shy farm boy flushed slightly in his cheeks. Luke fiendishly bit his lower lip. He scooted closer to her on the bunk and leaned forward, slowly reaching one single pointed finger at her. She was giggling at him by the time his index finger pressed between her eyebrows like a button, but his hand withdrew back to his lap and his eyes saddened from the momentary distraction. He sat up straight and sighed disappointedly at her. 

Brown eyes darted to her lap and then to the floor.

"Changing the subject is not going to save you, Kess," he warned softly. He paused and lowered his voice even more, "And you can't hide behind me."

Kess quickly slid off the bunk and went to the stand up locker, ripping it open.

Luke watched her wisely. "You're a Jedi Apprentice, not a damsel in distress." He watched her lips tighten as she pulled out her duffel bag, and waded an arm through its crumpled contents. He stood up and leaned a shoulder against the corner post. "It doesn't matter how much I'd like to, I can't protect you from it. I can only teach you how to face it."

Her movements had slowed and she worriedly pulled out a fresh set of clothes, draping them over her shoulder. She shoved the duffel back into the locker and pushed the door shut. Her shoulder collapsed against the metallic wall and rolled onto her back to face him with a rhetorical tone. "And how am I supposed to face my father?" Her brows rose, "I'm not gonna kill him."

"You don't have to kill him. Just tell him the truth," he said. "Don't lose your temper, don't run, and don't hate him for his point of view."

Her nose wrinkled and her arms wrapped tightly across her chest. In her introverted actions, the clean shirt and pants spilled off her shoulder and dribbled onto the floor.

Luke took one unsure step forward, holding open palms to his sides in a silent offering. Kess took it without looking up. She stepped into him and buried her face in his shirt collar. His arms felt big as they slid around her shoulders and the muscles in his chest hardened as he tightly pulled her in. The knot of pain and fear in her throat dissolved and she relaxed in his arms. She could do anything if he stood behind her, if he stood _by_ her like this. And it had nothing to do with the Jedi Master part of him. Luke had never just held her like this before. Kess' mind went limp, and she soaked up the feeling for all it was worth.

Luke quickly realized that a hug offered for comfort had turned into something completely different and his temple fell against her head with an ironic smile. He held her for as long as he felt he could get away with it, which was, he selfishly decided, as long as no hands or mouths started wandering. He had his face buried in her braided hair and he kept his eyes closed in a happy peace. 

**  **  **  **  **  **  **  **

Leia shuffled together datawork to move to her new office, barely listening to the info report on the vid until the report switched to Wubak standing in front of the council building. "In the wake of the Battle of Rogue Twelve: Both Jedi Lendra and Jedi Skywalker were still unavailable for interviews due to a sudden trip to an unknown location. Councilor Organa Solo, the New Minister of State to be sworn-in in two weeks, had this to say about their absence. . . ."

The screen switched to a shot of Leia's press release that very morning. "Their trip is not only to allow Lieutenant Lendra to heal from wounds received during the battle, but also so that she could concentrate on facets of her Jedi training. That is the reason Commander Skywalker is the one that is with her at this time."

Wubak's plastic smile flashed back on the screen, "In light of the repeated kidnap attempts, there are high hopes that Jedi Lendra will complete her training as soon as possible. The question is, what will the Empire do while the Jedi are, however temporarily, in hiding."

As the info report flipped quickly back to other business, Leia rubbed her forehead, sighed wearily, and went back to her datawork.

**  **  **  **  **  **  **  **

_"Kesselia."_

The sound immediately woke Kess up out of a good dream. She was still cocooned in the quilted sleeping bag with the dampness of the ground misting up over her head. She focused on Luke's body in the darkness, his sleeping bag wasn't six inches away from her own and his face relaxed in complete peace. He had fallen asleep that way, and she had fallen asleep staring at him. She had memorized his facial features, the lines of his cheekbones and jaw, and she had fallen head over heals in love with him as if she wasn't head over heals for him already. She was thinking about his voice and his words, his sparkling eyes and bashful grin. But in the disturbing stillness of midnight on a foreign world, she realized that she hadn't thought about sleeping on an uncivilized planet without a night watch and without safe bulkheads around her. Now, the impending threat of hungry reptiles was the only thing on her mind. 

Luke hadn't stirred, so he must not have heard anything. The beetles and birds continued to sing their eerie cries through the jungle but the voice was gone. There was no one else around; no one she could see, no one she could feel. The life of the jungle and the sleeping Jedi next to her created their usual glow, but there was nothing out of place. Kess pulled the quilt deeper into her neck, closed her eyes and relaxed. She listened to her senses. She listened to the ticks and the howls.

_"Hello, precious."_

Her eyes flew open and searched the darkness for a body. The voice was instantly familiar, not just by the deep rumble of an evil type of caring, but by the words themselves. That pet name coddled her, teased her to frustration, tried countless times to make things better, and were usually driven by guilt. She sat up and looked around, sensed around, but there was nothing there. 

Luke didn't move. She wondered if she should wake him. But no, she was a Jedi, and this was her battle. With slow movements, she pulled the quilt from her body. The wetness of the night fused the elastic fabric of her pants to her legs. Her eyes darted around the blackened terrain as she slipped on her boots. She could hardly see the ship that she knew was only a meter away. Her Forces senses were doing all the work, feeling out to the uneven weave of life to try and pinpoint the source of the voice. If her suspicions were true, they wouldn't need to go back to Tatooine for her mid-term.

Her shoulders straightened with pride, and she decided not to approach her father while wielding a lightsaber. It would be better to talk him though it. She would get more actual conversation out him that way. But what would he be doing _here_? The question plagued her as she stepped into the jungle wall, her clairvoyance lessons finally coming to use. Something in her subconscious pointed her in a certain direction and she had learned enough by this time not to question such premonitions. Her feet carried her boldly through the bushes looking for her father, or at least, some representation of him.

Luke stirred as her Force print drained into the distance but her footfalls were completely out of hearing range by the time he blinked himself awake. His brow furrowed as soon as he saw her empty bedding and his senses came to life, scouring the area. He sat up in alert when found her location, walking away to the south. She was hiking around the large pond and heading straight for the dark cave in the roots of a giant tree. Luke was about to call out in voice and telepathy when a spot of the air lightened in front of him and formed into a transparent body.

Luke recognized the man from the single moment in time he saw the spirit without the black mask or battle damage, and it was obvious by the look on his father's face that Luke was not to stop Kess in any way. He pushed to his feet and looked at Anakin questioningly. Even in his death, he stood as strong and immobile as he did when he was alive. Wearing much the same style of robes that Ben wore, and carrying a serious expression wrought with humility.When Anakin did not speak immediately, Luke stepped toward him. His mind fought between questioning him and disregarding him altogether. "But Yoda said-"

"She was not ready _before_," Is father stressed with a voice much different than the one Luke was accustom to hearing from the man, "and _you_ could not send her _after_."

_Before_, Luke thought. Before he told her the truth, when they were both so frustrated with the invisible handcuffs of the training that the whole purpose of their relationship was falling through the cracks. And now that he had told her, even in a roundabout way, he was already being held back from his job as a Jedi Master. He had tried so hard not to break the rules, but nobody had ever bothered to tell him what the rules were in the first place. Now Kess was walking into the darkest part of her training to face -- Luke sighed heavily at Yoda's perfectly cryptic explanation -- to face only what she brought with her. His brows knitted together, his voice tense with betrayal, "Why couldn't _I_ send her?"

Anakin smiled sympathetically at the son he never knew, "Watch."

Luke's lips drew into a thin line. He didn't like this at all. He hissed when he quoted Yoda. "The Master learns more from his student's mistakes than the student does." He wanted to be there when she came out. He wanted at least to calm her down and help explain whatever vision she was going to get. He felt helpless now.

Anakin's words rang with irony, "Luke, my boy, you are not the only one with inherent troubles with your father."

Luke's eyes shot up just in time to see the glowing figure fade away. He let out a sigh filled with more mixed emotions than he had felt in a long time. Once Anakin was gone from the scene, Luke felt out towards the cave and found a small lizard-like rodent to hide in, and borrow its eyes. 

Kess stepped up the to tree and paused for a moment. She'd recognized the dark Force print from a distance and curiosity had brought her this far, but the coldness filled her soul and the hate was overbearing. She wasn't about to go in there without her lightsaber. She turned.

_"Come here, precious," _the voice cooed,_ "come visit with me."_

His voice was so clear and seemed so nearby that she couldn't even tell if she was hearing it through the Force or her own ears. She reminded herself that she didn't want a weapon around when she faced him anyway, and stepped through a vine curtain. The chill hit her spine and she winced a little, but progressed evenly until she found a hole in the ground. In it, there was a faint light from around an unseen corner and shined onto an overgrown, duracreet floor. She lowered into the underground silently and could sense a weak presence deeper in the cave. The dim light didn't seem to have a source. It was barely enough to make out a part in the cave walls but the presence was around the corner. 

"Dad?" The sound of her voice was sucked up into the darkness.

A tall body stepped from the shadows. The squared shoulders were the only definite feature in the black cloak, but the voice was undeniably her father. "I've missed you, precious."

She wanted to ask how he got here, _why_ he was here, and why would he pick the dank cave to meet her in. She hadn't talked to him in over six months, hadn't seen him in a year. If he was coming to talk to her, it meant he already knew. He'd seen the reports on the info channel. She was sure of it. "Dad, I-" her words stopped in her throat. The darkness of this cave wasn't helping her practiced calm, much less the confidence of her defense. "I was on my way to tell you."

A hand emerged from the cloak to reach out a palm of offering, "Ah, my little girl." It was as though he hadn't heard her. He stepped forward again, a careful, casual-like stroll, but he stopped while still a good distance away. "Come to me, precious."

Kess tried to read his expression but the hood of the cloak threw shadows across his face. The cave was so thick black with the dark side that she couldn't make out his emitting emotions. "Are you angry?" 

He took another step to her, his other hand emerging from the woolen fabric in an open arm gesture. His voice tense with a loss of patience but struggled to coax the woman into his grasp. "Kesselia, come."

Her mouth opened with a breath and stopped. She calmed her fears, her anger, and raised her chin boldly. "You are not doing this anymore. I won't tolerate it."

He moved forward again, passing the invisible barrier he had seemed to stop behind. His large hands balled into fists of anger and his tone was deeply insulted. "How dare you speak to me that way," he hissed. "I have every right-"

"You have no right!" she shouted at him. Her eyes slammed shut but the tears seeped through and dribbled down her face. All those years of fright and bitterness welled up in her soul and poured out uncontrollably in her scream, "YOU HAVE NO RIGHT!" She expected him to blow up at that point, so his reaction was not a total surprise. He stormed the three steps to her and brought the back of his hand across her cheek. 

It took Kess a second to ignore the sting on her face, and then she squared her shoulders to prepare for a maneuver she had sworn she'd never do. 

Kess balled her fist and hit him back. 

Her knuckles sank into the flesh at his mouth and his head whipped to the side, knocking off the hood in the process. Even in the darkness, she could see that his hair was not the silvery gray she was accustomed to. His temple was not wrinkled with lines of age. Her breath quivered in fear as she realized it. "You're not my father." 

His head turned to her with daggers of hate in his blue eyes. Kess froze solid when she saw his face. 

"No," Luke hissed. He was toe to toe with her and still leaned forward, bearing down on her. "I am your _master_!" Spittle sprayed from his lips as he hissed at her, his face was twisted with anger.

Her heart crumbled. Every ounce of confidence drained from her soul. She stepped back into the cave wall. _This isn't happening. This can't be happening._

His fingers grabbed the fabric of her collar, picked her feet up off the ground, and slammed her back against the wall with a furious growl, "You will _not_ question me!"

The frothing wrath in his voice paralyzed her struggle, her feet still hovering two feet off the ground. He glared at her as though he was daring her to respond, but she stared into those eyes of hate in a terrified shock. Luke pulled her from the wall and brutally threw her to the ground. Her body hit the cold duracreet and sprawled. 

The pain of betrayal mutated into an anger she couldn't control. She rolled and scramble to her feet again. These tests had gone too far. She was ready to tear the organs right out of his stomach and make him _HURT_ as much as she did. As soon as she rose to her full height, she brought out her claws, let out a battle cry, and jumped at him.

Instead of plowing full force against his chest, her shoulder bashed against the wall. She gasped at the sudden silence, the sudden solitary. As she looked around the cave, her eyes widened in terror. Luke was gone. He had vanished in thin air right in front of her when seconds ago his hand struck her solid as a rock. 

Luke had hit her _hard_. 

Kess' brow furrowed. 

Luke had never raised a hand to her before. He never called her 'precious'. She panted into the blackness, collapsing against the vine-covered wall. Her mind reeled, her panic swelled, and her knees buckled underneath her. The dampness closed in on her, the chill in the air went even colder. She huddled there in silence for a very long time.

The chill in the air could be felt a kilometer away. The khaki jacket had been pulled over his shoulders and his knees pulled into his chest. Luke retreated his sights from the cave. His thoughts swam sluggishly through his mind, wisdom and logic trying to wade through the painful insult. He closed his eyes and rested his forehead on a quilt-covered knee.

**  **  **  **  **  **  **  **

Han's mind was completely preoccupied. He dashed through the narrow hallways on the Council Building's top floor, dodging an array of single purpose droids. He wasn't thinking about the reasons why Leia would have him drop what he was doing to report at once, and he wasn't thinking about how much colder her request sounded than her usual, until he rounded the corner to Winter's office. 

Leia's white-haired, expressionless assistant was politely telling a whole crowd of small system Ambassadors to calm down. "The Counselor has received the data and is reviewing its validity now." Winter told the small gathering, "She will bring her findings to a Council meeting as soon as she has something to report." The mirrored eyes of the Alderaan native focused on Han in the back of the room. "Captain," she called to him, offering him the wide office door, "The Counselor awaits you. Please, go in."

Han's brow furrowed in slight worry and he wove through the panicked politicians to the door. There was already a meeting going on inside. In what Leia had first described as an office too ostentatious for her, the sizable floor, chairs and couch in front of her desk had made use of themselves. Most of the Admirals, Generals, and other military flavors of the Council littered the room. Mon Mothma was standing regally beside the desk and Leia sat behind it, rubbing her forehead wearily. Han took a nonchalant place in the back of the room beside General Dodonna, and listened.

"They should have know it wasn't going to work," General Nadine spoke with an attitude that was much the same as Solo's. "One Star Destroyer against our entire fleet? It had to be a separate faction, or a renegade Captain."

Admiral Ackbar turned his wide, fishy eyes to Nadine, "Their failure is kidnapping Lendra, however weak the attempt was, does not neutralize this threat."

Han leaned to General Dodonna's ear and whispered, "What threat?"

Dodonna's gray eyes were fixed on whoever was talking and leaned slightly to whisper back but stopped. Leia stood up in her chair and told Han from across the room, "The Empire had pulled their forces from the Rolek, Dinte Foh, Frakkan, and X-Simpe systems." Her voice lowered in firm worry, "and they're massing at Coruscant."

Nadine sat up straight in his chair and half turned toward Solo, "Either they are staging another kidnapping attempt or they are preparing for an attack to finally wipe out Yavin base."

Solo cocked a brow, "If they were mustering for an attack, they'd mass on a system that we wouldn't be watching. Kadaan would be an idiot if he thought we didn't have spies in the Imperial Palace."

Nadine grinned, "So, maybe Kadaan is an idiot."

Admiral Drayson croaked optimistically from a chair, "I'd like to think that, with their dwindling forces, he simply realized how much work it was to keep protecting those systems."

General Dodonna's bearded jaw dropped. "Retreating?" He shook his head and crossed his arms, "It would take a lot more proof to convince me that the Empire is retreating."

Drayson shrugged his bulgy shoulders. "Palpatine is no longer on the throne. It's possible that Kadaan has a more reasonable character."

Han's eyeballs rolled away sarcastically and Leia commented on his expression. "He has a point. Kadaan has held on to his systems as best he could, but hasn't tried to attain any new ones. I don't think he has the thirst for power as Palpatine did."

"Not a thirst for power," Dodonna put in heavily, "A thirst for apprentices. With her in hiding, Kadaan has ample time to prepare for the next kidnapping." His voice rose, "And I don't think he's going to stop when she graduates. His actions have the flavor of a personal vendetta."

Ackbar put out a suggestion he knew would be knocked down. "Jedi Skywalker faced Lord Vader to end the same type of pursuit. Why doesn't Skywalker send Lendra to face Kadaan?"

General Nadine was already shaking his head at Ackbar, but he was grinning, "Skywalker is not going to risk losing her like that." 

Drayson tried to hide his suggestive chuckle of agreement. 

Mon Mothma, who had stood quietly aside up to this point, turned her shoulders to Nadine. "Jedi Skywalker has dedicated his life to rebuilding the Guild, General. Please do not be so quick to question his efforts."

Nadine smiled at his lap. "I don't question them at all, Chief Commander." He raised his eyes to meet hers, "In fact, in light of his dedication over the years, I'm _hoping_ the rumors are true."

Mon Mothma raised an eyebrow at him, "Rumors?"

Leia's eyes shot to Mon Mothma's innocently boyish face. The Chief of State had already been whispered to about the rumors, the observations, and the assumptions about what was going on between the Jedi and his Apprentice, and much of the whispering was from Leia herself. Mon Mothma was deviously pretending ignorance to get the information verified from the present crowd. They didn't disappoint her.

General Nadine shifted in his seat a little, "Rumor has it, Chief Commander, that Jedi Skywalker and Lieutenant Lendra had formed a closer-than-professional friendship."

Han folded an arm across his chest and covered his eyes with the other hand. Luke didn't want anybody to know.

"There is no verification of that," Ackbar put in quickly, "All signs have shown a strictly professional relationship. He has even submitted a request to have her transferred her back to Gold Group."

Drayson grinned his pointed teeth. "I have personally seen Skywalker smile and laugh increasingly often over the last few months." he croaked. The olive colored Admiral chuckled deeply, "I don't know if anyone else noticed, but Skywalker never laughed before the Frakkan mission."

"That doesn't suggest anything," Ackbar argued. "After all these years, he finally has another Jedi. He is no longer alone. That in itself would boost his spirits."

Han let out a deep breath through his nose and met Leia's equally concerned eyes. The last they knew, Kess was going off the deep end about the news of Luke's father. The Solo's secretly hoped that their trip would give the two a chance to work out their differences and get back to the business of getting her training over with. 

"Am I to understand that you two know more details?" Nadine's voice insinuated heavily, calling attention to the fact that the entire room was watching their silent stare.

Han's eyes shot to him with a sarcastic whine, "_Of course _we know more! He's family."

Leia called out evenly, "They are close friends, but Luke's dedication to the Guild far outweighs their friendship. His priorities have not wavered in the slightest and he will not jeopardize her training. Luke will send her to face Kadaan if he feels it is necessary."

Nadine looked at her in disappointment and disbelief, "Well, then, where are they now?"

All eyes went to Leia for an answer. But the question was not about where they were. Nobody cared. It was, 'what were they doing there _alone_.' More than one person noticed that Skywalker hadn't brought his faithful droid with him, an action that was so unlike him that it called more attention than expected. 

For the last several months, Luke had worked very hard to keep the grapevine from assuming anything, especially since Luke was working so hard to _prevent_ anything. But the natural reaction to nearly sacrifice his own life to save Kess' had stirred the rumors into a tornado, and Luke wasn't here to prove them wrong. Leia didn't know how to pacify the Alliance's suspicions, and her worry over the present state of the couple didn't make things any simpler. Leia didn't know what to say.

Mon Mothma read the dilemma in her face and took over. "The training of a Jedi Knight is more complex than any of us can comprehend. Jedi Skywalker needed her complete focus on a delicate set of lessons. The duties of Rogue Group and the risk of kidnapping were affecting her training too greatly. His highest priority is her training and he will not pursue other interests until it is complete." Her voice lowered to seriousness. "I would like the 'rumors' to reflect that fact."

The heads that didn't bow at the scolding, nodded obediently.

Admiral Ackbar spoke quietly, "And what of the Empire's sudden movements?"

Mon Mothma gave him a quiet smile. "We will take our new Jedi's advice. Ground all groups for complete repairs until the entire fleet is running at ninety percent or better. In the mean time, I'd like you all to review the new data and analyze it individually for assumptions on Kadaan's next move. Leia, prepare a treaty proposal for each of the systems the Empire has abandoned. Admiral Drayson, please transfer Lendra back to Gold Group. She can report there when she returns."

Voices muttered the default, "Yes, Chief Commander," and after a silent pause, the bodies began to stand and filter from the room. Nadine gave Han a sarcastic grin as he moved to the door, but Han glanced back at Leia. His wife jerked her head slightly in a silent gesture of, 'I'll talk to you about it later'. 

Leia watched Han turn away, and when the Admirals and Generals had all moved to the door, she looked at her boss. The Chief of State watched the small crowd leave and mingle with the other small crowd in Winter's office. Leia whispered a suggestion, "Should I inform Luke about the Empire's movements?"

Mon Mothma shook her head. "No," she said low enough for no one else to hear, "Let them be alone."


	2. Chapter 24

**Chapter 24**

It must have been over an hour by the time Kess returned. Luke had already cuddled into the sleeping bag and closed his eyes in useless attempt to go back to sleep. He heard her footsteps crunch in the bushes and sat up, ready to fling off the bed cover. She stepped out of the trees just as he looked up, and his movements froze in her expression. 

Kess walked over to him slowly and stopped at the foot of his bedding. Her large ivory shirt hung half cocked on her shoulders and the feather like ends of her hair dangled almost as low as the shirttails. Brown eyes drilled into him, confused and hurt. Luke could not sense anything from her. It was like she'd built a brick wall around her soul just to keep _him_ from getting in. 

He started, but all he could think to say was a breath of guilty defense, "It wasn't me."

Kess had already figured that part out but her jaw hardened. She glanced away in thought and her eyes darted back at him, "But you saw."

Luke nodded apprehensively and then his eyes fell to his lap, searching for words of wisdom. 

Kess sighed stiffly. "You didn't try to stop me." Her voice wasn't blaming him, but still wounded. And she reluctantly accepted that she was a Jedi Apprentice, not a damsel in distress. Even after the words of caring the other night, he was not going to save her from harm's way. 

Luke scrambled to his feet. "Because-" he stopped himself. _'Because Vader told me not to'_ would not go over well. He looked her in the eye and reminded himself what this was all about. His mouth softened, "Because it's none of my business, Kesselia. . . . The cave brings out your darkest emotions and makes you face them. As your _Master_, I can't step in the middle of your fear of your father."

Her sight fell to the ground and bitterness tainted her voice, "Apparently, you already have."

His eyebrows slanted, "I've been sitting here trying to figure out _how_." He looked at her like he was hurt from the episode, like _he_ was the one who should be insulted. 

Kess squeezed her eyes shut. He had never lifted a finger to hurt her, and he probably had no idea why she had a vision that he would. It was her fear of his third degree, poisoned by the third degree of her father.

Luke's eyebrows slanted even more. He brought up a hand and momentarily balled it into a fist of anxiety, but the muscles relaxed and he let his fingertips brush lightly on her cheek. 

Kess jumped backward with a frightened gasp and regretted the instinctive action before her feet even slowed. But she kept walking backwards, swallowing hard, and mentally ordering her shoulders relax a little. She let her eyes drift half-closed for a second, finding her peace, and calming the dark tendrils of emotion that reached up for attention. 

She was more reserved when she looked at him again; very disturbed, but _just_ disturbed. 

She spoke in a husky whisper, "I'm going to sleep in the ship."

Luke wanted to praise her for controlling her fear, but simply nodded. He wanted to sleep in the ship with her, but stayed behind, standing barefoot on his sleeping bag and watching her trot to the ramp. She disappeared in the shadows of the metal cave and he could hear the echo of her body falling heavily onto the bunk inside.

It took a few seconds, but Luke finally sat down, dipped his feet under the blanket and laid his head on the flat, quilt covered ground. He closed his eyes and meditated it all away again.

That night, Kess did a lot of thinking and even more meditating. She found the level of serenity she was used to, and then dug deeper to find that it was lying over a bed of solid pain. Her rough youth had hardened her core and she had accepted it as a permanent fixture. But the blackened emotions from her history had refused to stay in their bottle, they had repeatedly emerged when things got bad, just enough to alter her judgment.

Kess dug through the skeletons in her closet one by one. She faced them, accepted them, and gave each of them permission to be there. She pacified the guilt of betraying her father's wishes. It was her life, and she was going to live it. She forgave her grandfather for abandoning her grandmother. There was more to that event than Kess would ever know, and when it came right down to it, what had happened between Mister and Misses Kenobi was really nobody else's business anyway. She shed all her hate for Darth Vader and let herself admit that the man didn't blow up Alderaan just to kill her mother. There was a war on, and in every war there were casualties. Her mother was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. 

Her father was consumed by the bitterness of Lord Vader's deed and in the remaining years of Kess' growing up, she had inadvertently taught herself that it was easier to agree with him rather than fight him. Now, she would not succumb to his superiority. She would not tell him he was right just to pacify his hate. And she wasn't going to fight him. Her father was already in enough pain as it was. Kess wasn't going to inflict more by denouncing him. She understood the lesson in the cave. The fear of her father's anger and the hate for Vader had coalesced and poisoned her trust in Luke. She smiled a little when she realized that, again, Luke was right. She had to face her fear of her father to bring the rest of her emotions to peace. 

Kess climbed out of the bunk without having got a wink of sleep and found dawn shining down through the swirls of mist. Luke was already awake (or still awake, she wasn't sure) and straddling an equipment case with a half-empty box of rations. His chewing on the tasteless breakfast paused for a moment to look at her cautiously.

Kess recognized that he'd gone about his day without bothering her, giving her the space to be alone as long as she needed to, to figure things out on her own. She smiled shyly as she approached and straddled the same case, and she could feel his discomfort as she helped herself to a freeze-dried carrot. She let her boots meet the dirt just outside of his, bumping their leather-shrouded ankles together. For now, it was the most she would let herself touch him. In her own subconscious way, she had to verify that he was still there, still real, and still felt the same way about her that he did when he had kissed her.

Luke deciphered the gesture as clearly as if it was spelled out for him and the corners of his mouth curled a little. He moved his feet forward, letting their legs cross further until their shins cuddled together as though the limbs had minds of their own.

Kess' eyes smiled at him weakly but warmly, and then squinted. "I'd like to go see my father now."

Luke nodded as though he had a choice. "All right."

There was little conversation between them for the time it took to pack and take off but the silence was derived only from Kesselia's revelation. There was a new humbleness about her and a refreshed attitude of just wanting to get down to business. Luke could relate to the anxiety she was fighting off and didn't question it. She kept touching him in casual contact when she didn't need to; a hand on his waist when she brushed past him in the narrow passageway and a hand on his shoulder when she stepped up behind him in the pilot's chair. It was enough to tell him that she didn't blame him and she didn't fear him, she just had a lot on her mind. And Luke was content with the small, silent assurances.

Having spent only three days on Dagobah, they hit hyperspace for another long ride.

**  **  **  **  **  **  **  **

Yana hummed a tune to herself as she eyed the documents on the screen, but tried to keep her voice low enough as to not be disturbing to the other data admins in the dark and quiet CIC bunker. But something caught her eye that made her hum raise with the curl of curiosity. She typed the usual banter to decode the message. After a few failures, she remembered the ometako code that Skywalker pointed out.

The code worked. Her eyes brightened at her success as the symbols unraveled in letters one by one, and then her eyes widened with concern.

**TO:Son56489-WATC @PUBLIC.NET**

**FR: Father00254-SPKJ @LOCKET.NET**

**RE:**

**Bring me Kess Lendra alive and then we can discuss your pardon.**

**  **  **  **  **  **  **  **

Luke grinned at her as he strolled out in a semi circle in the tiny berthing cabin and ignited a pure white blade in his hand. He found a screw caught in the floor grating and fiddled with it with the toe of his boot.

The duels had progressed far past the point of a fun jaunt. Kess lost much more often than she won, no matter how much concentration and peace she was putting to the effort. It hadn't taken her long to realize that Luke had been going easy on her that first day when he revealed the dud lightsabers months ago. It seemed like years ago. Since then, he'd surprised her with a new strategy every time the white blades met in battle. She was tallying up all these devious tactics in her mind, watching to see if any would repeat themselves, but his strategies only combined with one another and grew more complex. 

Kess backed up almost to the closed door and tensely licked her lips. He obviously had something new in mind, the way he was looking at her. There was a fire in his eyes; a hint of humor curled his lips. He set his feet apart in the ground with the blade letting out a shuddering hum as it moved. His left hand wrapped around the hilt above his right, but his let it casually hang in front of him for a moment.

Kess swallowed her nervousness, "There is no room to maneuver in here."

"No. I know." He raised the sword at her, "But you have to learn how to fight without being able to maneuver."

Kess anchored her feet on the floor and bent her knees, staring at his smiling eyes past the glowing white of the blades.

"Will you go to the Minister of State reception with me?" 

Kess squinted at him and stood up straight, lowering her guard, "What?"

Luke lunged at her but she brought up the sword in a wide-eyed panic and blocked it. He stood up straight as well, smiling at her past the cross in the blades. "I almost had you there." The hissing crackled as the blades slid apart. 

She looked at him, squinting as if to see through the facade. 

He stepped backward casually. "You heard me. Come to the reception with me." He separated his feet again and took the hilt with both hands. "Please." He said it as though that was the key word she was waiting for.

Kess' eyes drilled into him for his true intentions, but she lowered to a defensive stance anyway. "I thought we weren't suppose to date until the training's over?"

Luke swung at her blade and they sizzled together, "It's not a date really," he tapped a few more times and backed up again, twirling the blade in the air. "It's more like a, uh... an escort." He grinned proudly as he thought of the word and swung low at her leg. "Besides, Leia wants you to go."

Kess blocked the swing and raised an eyebrow at him, "Then why doesn't Leia ask me?"

Luke's teeth shined at her and he quickly bit his lip for another swing. The blades slammed together. "She's already got a date."

Kess chuckled at him and brought her blade around for her own attack. The loud hum echoed against the metal walls as the sword sliced through the air and crashed down on his. She carefully stepped around toward the table, keeping his blade at bay. A twinkle shined in her eye at the thought, but she was convinced this was just another ploy to distract her from the duel.

Luke stepped sideways and curled his blade around hers until he brought it back quickly and tapped it away. His teeth clenched as he brought up a swing from the inside and firmly pushed her blade up and over her head, stepping to her in the process. With one hand, he held her blade at bay and the other rested confidently on his hip. She backed up into the table as he approached and he stopped inches from her body. His eyes smiled, "Answer me."

Her eyes smiled back. "Yes."

The glint in his eyes brightened for a moment and he stepped backward, pulling his blade away and parting his feet. Kess brought her own sword in front of her again, still quietly giddy that he actually asked her out on a date. . . escort. . . whatever.

"Oh, and there's one more thing." He said and sliced sideways at her neck.

Kess twisted to block it and stepped around some more. "What's that?"

Luke chewed his tongue deviously as he prepared for the next attack and grinned. "You have to wear a dress."

Her forehead wrinkled at him as she stood up straight in disgust. "Now just wait a damn minute-!"

He swung and hit her firmly in the thigh. She limped backward and swore at him. Luke laughed.

**  **  **  **  **  **  **  **

Kadaan paced his chambers apprehensively until Cheenan marched in and came to attention. "Your transport is ready, Master."

With that Kadaan started stopping towards the door and down the wide palace hall. "Are the chempods loaded?"

Cheenan marched proudly, but subserviently behind him. "Yes, Master."

"Is Shori Ka prepared for his trip?" Kadaan asked stiffly. His personal guards stepped into place around him and escorted him through the palace.

"Yes, Master."

"Any word on our missing Jedi?"

"No, Master. No sign of them at all."

Kadaan quickly proceeded into his private launch pad and marched into the awaiting transport. "Well, let's be prepared when they return, shall we."

Cheenan stopped at the edge of the ramp with one final, "Yes, Master," and turned away to hurry to his own transport. 

**  **  **  **  **  **  **  **

Kess monotonously pulled the straps over her shoulders and Luke turned off the hyperdrive engines with his hands moving in automatic mode. They stared silently out the blistered window of the cockpit watching the streaks slow back into stars until a yellow-white rock of a planet stood out against the black sky like a sun. 

Luke got on the radio to Mos Eisley Control and couldn't get a docking bay on the south side. He settled for a bay closer to the west side. In their years of absence, neither one of them could remember if that was a bad part of town or not. Upon approach, they quietly agreed that it didn't matter. The Empire had pulled out of Tatooine a year ago, so the different parts of the city were bound to have evolved drastically, in one direction or the other. They lowered into the dusty atmosphere and watched the all too familiar terrain of jagged rocks and sand dunes pass underneath them. Luke followed the beacon over the adobe buildings and lowered into Docking Bay 49. When the ship thumped on the ground, Kess swallowed hard. "Well, we're home."

Luke had insisted that they dress as Tatooine-like as possible, still concerned with bounty hunters, kidnappers and Imperials in general, and, just as they prepared to leave the ship, pulled out two wads of heavy woolen fabric. She had seen him wear the black cloak on occasion before Dagobah, but this time it was a little unsettling. She understood his drive for going incognito though, and draped the brown cloak over her own shoulders without comment.

They stepped out onto the surface and locked up the ship. The dry air tightened her skin, the mustiness of the wind smelled comfortable and Kess smiled at the ambiance of home. They stepped out to the street where an elephant-nosed Ortolan was already waddling to them for rent in advance. As Luke stopped to barter down the fee with the blubbery bluish creature, Kess strolled across the street to a public comm port. She blew most of the dust off with one long birthday-wish blow and punched in a well-remembered number. 

"Hello?" Nik's voice crackled from the tiny speaker before his blocky image flickered on the screen. He looked at little older and his expression a little more serious, but his eyes brightened as soon as her image came clear on his end. "Hey there, little sister! How are yeah?"

"Hello, Nik," she said with a quiet smile. "You up for a visit?"

His face suddenly changed as he recognized the buildings in her background, "You're here? Wha-... Sure come on over. We'll feed you lunch."

"Got enough juice for two?" she asked and cocked her head aside. "I'm bringing a friend."

An eyebrow shot up, "A friend?" He leaned back in his chair and combed his fingers through straight brown hair. "I've got enough Retago for two. I hope we'll be toasting to something?"

Kess shook her head and saw Luke drop his shoulder against the ivory wall next to her, just out of sight of the view port. She didn't look at him, "Different kind of friend, Nik. I'll explain when I get there."

"Okay." He just agreed with her. He didn't believe her. "See you soon."

Kess flipped off the comm port and turned to Luke. "He doesn't know," she whispered, "He would've asked about it if he saw it on the vid. He thinks my 'friend' is toting an engagement ring."

"I hope you plan to clarify that misconception."

She looked up at him, a little offended, and stepped away, "They've been trying to marry me off for years. Don't take it personally." 

There were no stormtroopers roaming the street, and _that_ was a little strange, but the remaining combination of races moved around on speeders and bikes just like they always did. Droids avoided Jawas, drunk Gamorreans sat in the shade behind cantinas, and giant dewbacks carried their shrouded masters on their backs. Kess was barely familiar with this part of town, but remembered enough to know the direction home and started walking.

Luke met her stride down the narrow street and lowered his deep mumble into her ear. "I just don't want anybody assuming things that aren't happening yet. Don't take it personally."

Kess chuckled bitterly at him and stuffed her hands in her pockets, "Nobody is assuming anything you don't want them to, _Master_. Not on Yavin anyway. And Nik will be stopped in his tracks as soon as he recognizes you." 

Sand drifts collected up on the sides of short dome entrances to underground houses. Other buildings stood straight and tall, cream colored towers looming over busy foot paths. Twin suns beat down on the sand under their feet and the dusty air was laced with the scent of a dewback barbecue. 

Kess was paying more attention to the life of the city than to Luke, and her tone came out a little sarcastic, "You're not exactly what everyone believes to be the marrying type."

Luke's eyes fell on her, seeing just past the rim of the cloak's black hood. "What was _that_ supposed to mean?"

She suddenly stopped and turned to him and had to remind herself of what she just said in order to defend it. "Oh, well. . . it's just that you've been in the limelight for so long, and no one has ever even seen you with a date. . . " Her voice trailed off and she started walking again. "And your so busy with your Rogue Group and your Council and your Jedi Guild, it's not like you'd have any time to get into that stuff anyway." Somehow, her attack and defense didn't quite jive with her personal point of view, and squinted into the displaced logic. 

Luke inhaled to speak but stopped himself and licked his lower lip. Then he shook the daze from his head and turned to follow her again. He decided not to argue with her and just prove her wrong in about six months or a year. . .

"I'm sorry," she mumbled, "I guess I never bothered to ask before I made that assumption." She stepped onto a tile walk that led into a market-alley. "You never mentioned any desire to settle down, so I automatically assumed that you didn't want to."

Luke sidestepped to keep from being run over by ravenous shoppers and scanned over the metal frame booths as if he cared what they were selling. "I have every desire to settle down as much as the next guy," he defended, "I'm just a little more patient. . .  or maybe a little more picky." He shrugged and then grinned, "Every once in a great while, I get the urge to throw it all away and run off to Nakida just like everybody else."  He saw Kess chuckle at him out of the corner of his eyes and continued in a guttural voice, "Y'know, buy a house on a beach cliff, find me some cute little redhead, and have her bear fifteen kids for me." He laughed pitifully at himself. "Or something like that."

Kess eyes had bulged out of her head. "A beach cliff house? I can handle. A redhead? With a little work, I can do. Fifteen kids? You're insane."

Luke snickered and challenged her, "Well, how many kids do you want?"

Kess pulled her lips in thoughtfully and spoke in a carefully firm voice, "One at a time." She met his eye for a brief moment and turned away with a purpose to her stride. 

Luke bit his lip and smiled at the ground beneath his feet, imagining that scene again: Kesselia wading through a room of fifteen blonde toddlers yanking little plastic lightsabers out of the air. . . one at a time.

When he glanced up again, she was hurrying away and realized that he'd better catch up. After a few twists around a variety of races and a turn around a lip in the wall of the alley and he followed her in through a large doorway. The garage inside was cool with shade and cluttered with speeders, spooners and greasy parts. Luke found her already bartering with a Jawa and she was handing over her credit chip by the time he found the words to say, "What are you doing?"

Brown eyes twinkled at him and she closed her fingers around the T-shaped key. With a childish squeal, she straddled a speeder-bike and turned on the ignition. "Hop on."

Luke rubbed his hand over his forehead with a weary sigh, "Why did you buy a speeder-bike? We're only going to be here for a day, maybe two-"

"I've always wanted one." She revved the petrol-engine and it hissed onto the concrete floor, blowing the sand clean in a spot. "Besides, Nik's place is on the other side of town, and Dad's isn't exactly walking distance from there." She pulled the cloak from her shoulders and draped it across the long seat.

Luke unwrapped himself from his own cloak with a sigh of defeat and straddled the seat behind her. Kess watched him secure the cloaks in his lap. The change from the ominous Jedi cloak to the resulting cream-colored farmer's attire took ten years off his age. She slowly walked the bike toward the outer garage door. As soon as he seemed ready, she set her feet in the stirrups, squeezed the accelerator, and took off.

Luke's eyes popped out of his head and his hands went to her waist in alarm. It abruptly clicked in his head that he had never seen or heard of her driving or flying _anything_ ever before. From over her shoulder, he saw the buildings flying by dangerously close. The speeder-bike jerked left and right as she dodged pedestrians. He slammed his eyes shut to not see the near miss with the corner of a concrete wall. "Slow down!" he insisted.

Kess laughed at him over the noise of the bike and yelled back at him, "Fear is on the dark side, farm boy!" She dipped left to get around a droid suddenly in her path. "Shut up and hold on!"

Luke squinted into the sand stinging his face and mentally checked where his hands were on her waist. Not to high, not to low, and not too far forward. Besides, she was probably just driving like this to instill enough pure fear for his hands to accidentally wander. 

In a few minutes, she had gotten them out of the downtown area and onto the long drawn out streets near the edge of town. Then she zipped onto a bridge that barely curved to the south, and was only occupied with other vehicles that could compete with her. He looked out over the sea of sand dunes where Tat 2 was just rising and setting off the sand in a glorious sparkle of gold and pure white. His mouth curled into a thoughtful smile.

The bridge emptied out deep in the south side of town. The jagged cliffs edging the Jundland Wastes loomed over the white washed architecture. He could tell that this was a nicer part of the city only by the distance between the entrance domes. It meant that there were bigger houses attached to them under the burning hot surface. Kess twisted around them as though it were slalom, and Luke had to admit he was actually starting enjoying the ride. . . until she stopped. She fishtailed in the road and her foot dug into the sand to keep them from toppling over then killed the engine.

Luke scrambled off the bike and stepped backward until he got his land legs back. The bike was still hanging from her grasp at a forty-five degree angle. Kess just grinned at him proudly, settling the bike upright and deftly climb off. "You drive the same way, flyboy. I owed you one." She strutted to him with the cloaks and her voice changed when she handed him his. "I want you to do me a favor while we're here."

Luke's glare softened and he draped his cloak over one shoulder. "What now?"

"Don't pressure him today. Don't even suggest it. Okay?"

Luke curled his lip, "Suggest _who_ to do _what_?"

Kess started walking backwards toward the nearest dome entrance and tapped on her lightsaber, "My _brother_ to _train_."

Luke jaw dropped._ Her brother! Of course! _As his mind quickly thumbed through the facts, he agreed that now would not be the time to approach her brother about it anyway. He would undoubtedly have the same fear and/or hate of their father that Kess did, and he might as well let Kess break that ground for him. Luke walked up to the door behind Kess while he was thinking about it, and hardly noticed the suddenly boisterous voices of 'long time no see'. 

He blinked once, and found a man smiling at him. Fluttery, chocolate colored hair fell haphazardly into matching eyes. His cheekbones were well defined and his mouth peeled back to the same giddy smile he had gotten used to seeing on Kess' face. "Hello," the man eagerly greeted with an open hand. "I'm Nik Lendra."

Luke smiled politely and shook the man's hand. "Luke," was all he said.

Kesselia had trotted down the stairwell and into the living room with who apparently was her sister-in-law, and flopped down into the couch as if she lived there. Luke followed Nik into the underground house and stepped casually around to the opposite side, quietly observing the native decor and usual household clutter. The wife scurried down one of the hallways to fetch drinks for their guests and Nik hooted rambunctiously at Kesselia about not seeing her for so long, "Man, you have lost some weight!" he boomed, flopping back into the opposite couch from her. "Look at you! You're all buffed up!"

Kesselia grinned at her lap. "Yeah, well, I've been getting a little exercise lately. I run every morning now."

Nik obviously didn't believe her. "As long as morning is still defined as any time before _noon_." 

His wife brought in a platter full of water glasses and set them on the drink table. Her sudden presence alerted Kesselia to her manners. "Oh, I'm sorry." And waved a hand at each of them. "Luke, this is Nik and Gina. Guys, this is Luke-" She stopped herself just then, but nobody noticed. After a moment of thought, as the trio waved polite 'nice to meet you's to one another, Kesselia decided to just wait and see how long it took for Nik and Gina to recognize him, or otherwise figure it out. Dressed in sandy ivory farmer's garb from head to toe, he didn't look at all like a Jedi Knight, even though the lightsaber was hanging unmistakably from his belt. 

"Please, sit down." Nik motioned to the well-cushioned chair and then teased Kesselia's new _friend_, "You're makin' me nervous."

Luke cracked a grin and sat down. He reached for a water glass and met Gina's eyes to thank her for it, but his smile vanished when he saw the look on the woman's face. Gina's ice colored eyes drilled into him with recognition and her brows slanted in a helpless fear. She said nothing, but glanced worriedly to Nik and then back to Luke. The Jedi could read her expression clearly, _'please, don't be here to take my husband away.'_

Luke stared right back at her and just barely shook his head to assure her. He wasn't going to take anything from anybody. In due time, he would have _asked_ Nik to train, but he wasn't going to pressure him like he had with Kess. In Gina's nervous reaction, sitting down uncomfortably on the couch beside her husband and combing back cropped black hair with her fingers, Luke decided not to even ask until the couple had resolved some of their issues about the idea. 

Gina sighed and brought her head up high to hide her true fears. She smiled wide at Kesselia and Luke. "So, I hope you bring news from the outside."

Nik wrapped his arm around his wife's shoulder and propped his feet on the drink table, "Yeah, we heard there was a battle over Yavin 4 a few days ago. What was the story with that? Something about the Imperials trying to kidnap a Jedi Apprentice?"

Kesselia glanced quickly at Luke and then cocked her head aside at the couple with a grin. "Don't you guys watch the vid anymore?"

Nik explained casually, "When the Imperials moved out, they took the media with them. Since were on the outer rim, we can get any of the galactic broadcasters, and there's not enough business here to attract any small time shows. We've been stuck with listening to rumors for the last nine months or so." He pointed a finger past the glass in his hand, "And there are a lot of rumors I'd like to verify with you, young lady?"

Kesselia swallowed, but she smiled. "Like what?"

Nik leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. "Like this battle last week," his face twisted at the confusion, "Now, call me stupid, but if there's a Jedi Apprentice running around for the Imperials to kidnap, that means that Skywalker finally decided to start training people. Or are we talking about one of Kadaan's students here? Since you're on the same planet and in the same military with the guy, and _you_ watch the galactic info every night, I'm sure you can clue me in on what scandals are going on these days. Yes?"

Luke licked his teeth and took a long swig of water, trying to decide how long he was going to let Kess keep up the charade. Kess was trying to control her laughter with her hand. Her face was red when she looked over at Luke and then shook her head at Nik. "Nik, you're stupid."

Nik noticed that his guests were laughing at him, assumed that it was because the rumors were way off, and waited patiently for the information. 

Kesselia didn't need to look at Luke again. She knew he was sitting there waiting for her to spill the beans. She nodded once at her brother, "Yes. I can tell you all kinds of juicy details about the Jedi that you probably wouldn't even want to know. But!" She leaned forward onto her own knees, looking at her brother in the eye across the table and calmed the giggle in her voice. "Before I get in really big trouble, I'm gonna do this the right way."She held her hand out to the side, introducing Luke again. "Nik Lendra, this is Luke _Skywalker_."

Nik's eyes moved to the side and his mouth parted, but the rest of his body didn't move. 

Luke waved shyly again with a quiet, "Hello." 

And then Nik's smiling brown eyes went back to Kess. His brows furrowed, "Nooo." He leaned back a little, looking back at Luke, and then back at Kess, not believing what he was thinking. "Nooooo."

Kesselia nodded at him, "I'm surprised you didn't recognize him."

Nik slapped his palm on his forehead and dropped his back into the couch. His eyes fell on the lightsaber at her side and pointed at it. "ji-. . . doh-. . . is that what I think it is?" Kesselia was always carrying around gadgets and doohickeys so he hadn't even noticed this one with any regard. He watched her pull it off her belt and she tossed it to him. He deftly caught it in the air and looked the hilt over with a giddy smile. "I can't believe this!" His eyes kept darting to her, completely baffled but bursting with excitement. 

Kesselia's heart was filled with joy at Nik's schoolboy reaction. She watched him smile wide at Luke like, _'I can't believe you are actually in my house.' _She realized that deep down, she was afraid that Nik had adopted the same Jedi hate in her absence. But now, with her brother's approval, she had more confidence to face her father. Kesselia sat back into the couch and folded her arms, watching Luke and Nik drum up their own conversation about the Jedi and the Guild and Kesselia's training, but not really paying attention to what they were saying. She only paid attention to Nik's bright eyes and Luke's reserved reflections. 

In short order, Nik bounced off of the couch and pulled out his bottle of Retago. "It turns out we do have something to toast." He said as he poured then motioned to Gina. "Honey, go get Obi Wan." 

Luke caught his breath and looked up to see Gina leave the room. Nik was babbling something about how he and Kesselia would try to use telekinesis when they were grammar kids. Kess was laughing out loud, remembering the stories only as Nik told them. But Luke kept one eye on the hallway until Gina returned.

The boy came out of the back of the house with a tasked expression on his face and sand all over his cream colored pants. The seven-year-old was probably engrossed in a comic or similar hobby and didn't want to be bothered by grown up visitors, but would obey his mother's silent command to be polite. He combed fluttery brown bangs from his young face and gave his aunt a hug, and then turned to shake Luke's hand as they were introduced.

Luke greeted Obi Wan Lendra with a warm smile. He could faintly see the character of Ben's eyes, years younger, and he could feel the boy's desire to finish with the social requirements and get back to the playing he was doing before. But suddenly the boy's nose wrinkled at him and Luke could barely feel a touch on the Force from someone who didn't quite know what they were doing yet. 

Luke's smile widened, but he fought it. He distracted the boy's curiosity by asking what he was doing back in his room that was so interesting. Young Obi Wan sat down on the couch next to Kesselia and started jabbering, like young boys do, about his models and describing the detail on the A-wing he was in the middle of building. Then he suddenly jumped up in excitement to go get the model to show it to them.

Luke propped an elbow on the armrest and hid a grin with his fingers. He knew it would be best not to say anything about the boy's inherent abilities just yet. Not with the Dane Lendra's hate lurking around the next corner and the Gina Lendra's fear right here in the room. He had no interest in spoiling this perfect day anyway. The smell of home surrounded him, the warmth of family filled is senses, and the entire Galaxy felt brand new.


	3. Chapter 25

**Chapter 25**

"What the hell?" Han's voice burst out from the innards of the Falcon, "What did she do to this thing?" he cussed, and pulled his head out of the gaping hole in the bulkhead. "Chewie, come take a look at this."

The Wookiee grunted at him and stepped over to glance at the electronics inside. After a quick review, Chewie looked down at him like he was stupid and let out an annoyed _blat_! He walked away to his own problems and hooted at the man again, explaining the modification.

Han paused, "I knew that." He reached his hands in the open panel to squint at the electronics again. 

"Sounds like the starship hacker has met his match." A familiar voice called from the passageway and Lando Calrissian stepped into the tiny room where they were working. "I take it Kess has rewired the Falcon behind your back?" He crossed his arms and grinned at Han as he turned to him. "Does that mean it works now?"

Han smiled brightly. "Lando! What are you doing here?"

Lando shook his hand, "I was invited to the Minister of State Reception, was I not?"

Han dropped a shoulder on the wall and hooked a thumb in his belt loop, "Well, yeah, but that's not for another week. I figured mister responsible couldn't afford the time away from Bespin and would be flying in at the last possible minute."

Lando grinned shyly at the floor. "I'm on vacation. Even mining colonies give their administrators a vacation every once in a while."

Han raised an I eyebrow at him.

Lando pressed his lips together and sighed out the truth, "I lost it in a game."

Chewie roared out in laughter from the back of the room and the sound sent the other two chuckling at their habitual misfortunes. Han's laughter drifted away, "So, how long are you going to stay?"

"I don't know." Lando stepped to the side and traced a finger along the bulkhead. "Depends on what's going on. Did you hear about the Empire pulling out of those systems in the third quadrant?"

Han suddenly sobered, and nodded.

"What are you going to do about it?"

The question almost sounded like it was coming out of a not-so-incognito spy. Han glanced up. "We haven't decided yet."

Lando met his stare looking just as concerned, "What did Luke say?"

Han shook his head, "He doesn't know yet. He and Kess ran off together for a training mission."

"A training mission?" Lando's face cracked into devious smile. "It's about time he stopped acting like a gentleman."

Han shook his head, "No rumors, Lando. He's preaching a professional relationship until she graduates and we are going to support him."

Lando laughed in disbelief, "Professional? Why?"

Han lowered his voice and put his hands on his hips, "Listen, they got in a big fight just before they left and Leia and I still don't know what's going on. I'm sure he's got a lot of good Jedi reasons why he's doing this, so just let him. No rumors. Let them figure it out on their own."

Lando's smile turned to Han, "Better watch it, buddy. It's starting to sound like you care. You wouldn't want to spoil your reputation."

Han gave his a cockeyed grin, "My reputation was ruined the moment I tried to take that kid and his hermit to Alderaan and I've been stuck taking care of Luke ever since."

Lando gave him the same grin in return, "Well, why don't you step aside for a little while and let Kess take care of him. That's what she's there for."

**  **  **  **  **  **  **

Nik chuckled at his sister, putting the clean dishes back into the cupboard, "You never cease to amaze me." He pulled a dozen utensils out of their slots and waved a slotted spoon in the air at her, "Why didn't you call me and tell me about this? I mean, it's obvious that you have been training for a while, the way you guys act together." He shrugged and tossed the spoon and its mates into a drawer. "It's like your linked in the head or something."

Kess laughed at him, "It's called the Force, stupid."

Nik smiled and shrugged, "So how long _have_ you been training?"

She leaned in on the bar-counter and shrugged, "I guess about," she had to think about it, "wow, almost eight months now."

Nik grinned at her revelation.

"Well, time kind of flies when you're busting your thrusters all day long," she defended, waving her hand in the air. "We run five kilometers every morning, even the weekends, work on the same pad all day long and then do five to six hours of training after work, every day."

Nik raised a brow at her, "Funny. I can't tell whether or not that was a complaint."

Kesselia sipped her Retago, "It was both. I just want to get the apprentice part over with and get on with the Knight part." She sighed and her voice deepened, "I've come to Tatooine for a reason, Nik."

"I figured as much," he was too engrossed in darting around the kitchen to get too sarcastic, "The Maker forbid you would come just to visit."

Kess folded her fingers together and sighed again. "I have reason to believe that grandfather didn't die at the Academy."

That caught Nik's attention. 

"I came to ask dad about it."

Nik's eyes narrowed and he put a stack of dishes on the counter. "What would he know?" He said bitterly, "Grandfather died long before mom and him got married anyway, whether he died at the academy or not."

"I think there's more to it than that. I don't want to be the one to open old wounds, but I have to talk to him."

Nik's motioned slowed and he stared at her for a moment. His tone was as stiff and impatient as their father's. "You're not gonna _tell_ him, are you?" When her eyes dropped to the counter, his heart froze. "What are you nuts?! He's going to skin you alive!""

Kesselia suddenly met his eyes but her expression was one he'd never seen. Her confidence was strong and she wasn't going to take any flak from anybody. "He is going to lose it, your right. But he is going to listen to me. And if he still can't get over it, then he can just call me when he does. I'm not putting up with it anymore."

Something in her voice convinced Nik that his little sister really did have the means to stand up to their father. Nik dropped his gaze back to the clean up of lunch. Finally, he nodded and mumbled, "Be careful." It was her skin to lose, so it was her choice. Besides, she had a lightsaber to protect her now. Then he wagged a finger at her, "And I want to hear about it if grandfather's story does change. Don't wait until the next time you have business on this rock."

Kesselia smiled weakly, "Well, I know for a fact that Obi Wan Kenobi graduated from the Academy because only Jedi Knights can come back to this dimension as ghosts."

Nik's eyebrows jumped up. "Ghosts?"

Kesselia proceeded to explain the summarized chain of events over the last eight months. She told him everything that she had learned, and her suspicions about what she hadn't learned. She deliberately left out any juicy details about the private ongoings between her and Luke, but she covered just about everything else, including her intent to learn the truth about Obi Wan Kenobi and his notorious Jediship. Their conversation came to a halt when Gina, Luke, and little Obi Wan came back from the courtyard. The distraction managed to sweep the rest of Kess' story under the carpet, but she didn't mind. It was already to the point of debating over assumptions and not the facts anyway. Kess was anxious for the facts.

Luke knew what they were talking about upon walking in, but helped cover up the discomfort with casual banter. All he had to do was look at Kess, and she knew it was time to go. She collected her peace for a moment and then started the chatter that they had to get moving. They had an hour's drive a head of them and nightfall would not be delayed by any one of a thousand Jedi tricks.

**  **  **  **  **  **  **

It wasn't a town. It was a wide spot in the road. Its only purpose in life was to replenish traveling needs for anyone on the long road to Anchorhead and other farming towns in the south. . . and Jabba's Palace, once upon a time. Luke grinned wryly as he slowed the speeder-bike into the lodge's barren parking area and glanced around. The sudden lack of business at Jabba's Palace was probably why this place looked so shriveled up, because, well, why would anybody want to go to Anchorhead?

He shut off the power to the bike, let go of the handlebars and sat up straight, glancing to the body that was clinging to his back. For a while, he had thought that she's actually fallen asleep, or at least was trying to meditate to prepare for her endeavor, but her grasp tightened when he moved, so he stopped. 

"I'll be at the lodge," he said softly, "take as much time as you need."

Kess saw his chin turn to her out of the corner of her blankly staring eyes. His wavy hair brushed against her temple and his hands carefully pulled hers away from his chest. She felt safe around him, even when she was scared of him. His peace was comforting and his confidence uplifting, but he was not going to rescue her from her father's temper. 

He carefully slid off the bike and let go of her hands. Her shoulders slumped and her head bowed. 

"Find your peace," he said softly, dragging the cloaks from her lap. 

Kess nodded obediently and closed her eyes, still straddling the bike. She looked up at him. "It probably going to be very late..." she whispered, "can I wake you?" 

The light of day was retreating from the giant sky behind him and the dome buildings were already shut tight to be swallowed up by the night if the sand drifts didn't devour them first. The golden sunset reflected in sympathetic eyes and the cooling breeze ruffled his hair. Luke's sights shifted and he smiled a little, but he shook his head, "I won't be asleep." 

Kess drew in a breath and swallowed it. She felt alone, abandoned. . . just as weak and vulnerable as she always had when she saw her father. 

Luke stepped up to her side and let his forehead fall onto her temple. His peaceful light dove into her churning cloud of anxiety, lightly touched on the serenity that had hidden in the corner, and spread it across the entire emotional domain. The touch of it made her relax more than the action did and she cuddled her face into his. 

"The Force is with you," he whispered, "and so am I." Luke kissed her lightly on the forehead, patted her shoulder and turned away. 

She watched him walk around a short drift to the lobby's dirty entrance dome and disappear into the building. Kess sighed heavily and shed as much self-pity from her thoughts as she could. She swallowed again, raised her chin, and scooted forward on the bike. It purred to life in her grip and carried her slowly down the street.

**  **  **  **  **  **  **

"Hi, Dad" she smiled meekly.

Dane Lendra's gray-brown eyes brightened when they focused on her, but they still looked years tired. "Hello, Precious," he greeted her with a reserved pleasantry and stepped aside to let her into the entrance dome. "What brings you here? I wasn't expecting you." 

Kess strolled in slowly and down the steps to the tiny living room. "A friend and I were on the way back from a trip and we had a day to kill, so I decided to stop by." The house was more cluttered than usual, showing the signs of not having enough energy to pick up after himself anymore. The furniture was nearly worn out and empty bottles and dirty glasses littered the tabletops clueing Kess in that not much had changed. She stuffed her hands in her pockets and sighed, but looked on the bright side: at least she knew what she was dealing with.

He walked down the stairwell with his shoulders as square as always, carrying an air of superiority that would make an Admiral humble. The years of hard work in the salt plants still showed in the solid rock muscles of his forearms, and wispy gray hair fell into a deeply lined face. He was looking drastically older than he should have for his age. "So, where's your friend?"

Kess cleared her throat and thought of something, quick. "Oh, she. . . wanted to check out Market Square, so she decided to stay in the city for the night."

Dane couldn't have cared less about which friend it was or where she had gone. He stepped to her and gave her a suffocating hug. "My precious little girl. I've missed you." He pulled away and went to the bar to pour a pair of sweetwaters. "How have you been?"

Kess shoved a coat aside to clear a spot off of the couch and sat down. "I'm fine. How are you?" This conversation was so very stale. Kess was more nervous than usual, and Dane seemed to be polite just because he had to be. 

"Very good," he said and handed her a glass. "Bored, but good. I should have never retired."

Kess forced a grin and dropped her gaze. 

"Are you still fixing those boats for the military?" He asked, successfully keeping the discomfort at bay.

 "Yeah," she nodded, and then looked at him confidently, "As a matter of fact, I've gotten a temporary promotion to Repair Supervisor and I'm doing a damn good job, too." Her elbow draped over the arm of the couch and her chin was set with a 'so there' attitude.

The crow's feet around his eyes deepened as he smiled evenly at her. "You have always been good at your job, precious. I'm very proud of you." He tone was littered with the assurances of an old argument. He never like her in the military, but he always held pride in her work ethics, no matter what she was doing with them. He looked at her as if he was waiting for the other shoe to fall, but continued the conversation casually, "Are you still wearing the Gold color? I hope they're keeping you on the ground."

Kess licked her lips. "I am still on the ground," she swallowed hard, "But actually, I'm wearing the Rogue color." She forced herself to meet his eyes. He could blow up all he wanted, but he was not going to break her down. Not this time.

But Dane didn't blow up. His chin rose and his lips drew in slightly, his eyes drilling into her. After a moment of intense stare, his eyebrows rose too, "I take it that bastard has asked you about your grandfather?"

She forced her voice to stay polite. "He has. And his information differs from yours." The fact was that Luke hadn't given her _any_ information. But she had to bluff it as though she knew more than Dane thought.

Dane chuckled evilly, "C'mon, precious. Not one true word ever came out of a Skywalker's mouth." He poured the rest of the sweetwater down his gullet and instead of getting up to pour another, he just reached for the half empty bottle of hard liquor on the drink table. 

"That's what you told me, dad. But there's too much about the story that doesn't make sense. I want to know what really happened to grandfather."

He leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. "What difference does it make? I don't even know the whole story." He smacked away a poisonous swig. "All that happened long before I met her."

_Her_. It was almost as though he couldn't say her name anymore. He couldn't even refer to her as _your mother_. Now that Kess was trained in the Force, she could feel the black knot of pain in his chest that had hardened like a permanent cancer. She could see that the knot was the fuel that always fired his temper. Anything that had to do with the death of her mother was evil, plain and simple. That's the way he saw it. No matter how much he could hate, or fight, or drink, that knot was not going to go away, and that frustrated him even more.

"But you know more than you've told me." Her expression told him that she was not affected by his glare and she wasn't afraid of his temper. Her tone told him that he wasn't going to get out of this conversation without explaining that history. 

His eyebrows furrowed a little, like he suddenly recognized that this wasn't the precious little Kesselia he last saw. 

Kess continued confidently, "Mom is no longer here to hurt by talking about it and I'm going to make my own decisions whether you try to protect me from the Jedi or not. I would like to make those decisions based on the truth."

His voice had died to a grisly whisper, "He's trying to get you to train, isn't he?"

She leaned over a little, giving him the same stare he gave her, "You tell me the truth first. If you want to know what your little girl's been up to lately, then you have to give me a reason to _bother_."

A wide-open palm rapped across her cheek before she even knew it was coming. "Don't you talk to me that way, young lady."

Kess leaned back and cooled the sting on her cheek with her palm. She sighed to regain her patience. "Look, I don't to get into it with you!" She stood from the couch and strolled away just to get out of his convenient reach. "All I want is to know the truth about Obi Wan Kenobi! Okay?!"

His eyes saddened for a minute and were immediately replaced by anger. Dane shot out of his chair at her, waving tense fingers in the air. "Why should you_ care?!_ You should be married with a room full of kids by now! Then you wouldn't _care_ about Obi Wan or any of that blasted magic of his! You wouldn't _care_ about Darth Vader turning to the dark side on him and you wouldn't _care_ about the bastard children Vader left behind!" 

She blinked several times and her confidence started to melt under his booming voice. 

He set his hands on his hips and glared at her. "_Obi Wan failed!_ Is _that_ what you wanted to know? You and Nik try to put him on a pedestal but the man was _far_ from perfect. And _because_ he failed, billions of people are dead when they shouldn't be, _my wife included_. Darth Vader and the fall of the republic is a _direct_ result of _your grandfather's_ **_piss poor_**** Jedi training." He dropped his arms and started to turn away. "And since he was the last one left alive to train Skywalker, I wouldn't trust _anybody_ claiming to be a Jedi these days. Skywalker's been filling your ears with bantha fodder, Kesselia. He doesn't have a _clue_ what it takes to be a Jedi Knight."**

Her voice faded into uncertainty. "But Luke-" her voice was meek and she cleared her throat, "he's not like that. . .  . " She met her father's eye. "I. . . I mean I'm . . . ."

His mouth twisted in disgust and a jagged voice flatted her self esteem, "You _what_?"

Kess' lip quivered a little. His eyes drilled into her and his fists were ready to lose their temper. The words stopped in her throat. She stepped back and swallowed. Fire shot out of his eyes. His fist met her mouth the same time his voice growl echoed against the walls. "You filthy little whore!"

Kess was knocked down into the ground and tasted the blood on her lips. She closed her eyes to find any kind of peace to keep from losing her own temper, but within a split second, she was roughly yanked from the ground to receive more of her 'lesson'. She saw the open hand ready to come back across her face and Kess realized that this conversation was already over.

**  **  **  **  **  **  **

Luke rolled over in bed and stuffed his hand under the pillow, still wide awake at one o'clock in the morning, Tatooine time. It was actually five o'clock in the morning to his inner clock, set by Yavin 4 time, and just as he had guessed, he hadn't gotten any sleep. He wanted to peak so badly, but kept his senses slammed shut to the point that he couldn't even sense her location on the planet. She had to be alone, he kept reminding himself of that. 

She had to be a Jedi alone. 

He kicked off the sheet and rolled onto his back, relaxing his mind into another trance, but a quick rap on the door interrupted him. Luke raised his head and opened his mind, immediately detected her presence, and shot out of the bed. He fumbled with the lock and flipped the switch and when his eyes focused on Kess, his jaw dropped.

She looked at him evilly from under a hardened purple eyebrow. Her lower lip was cracked and bleeding and her shirt was badly torn. "I hope you're happy now." She hissed, pushing past him into the room. She limped to the bed and gingerly sat down. 

Luke yanked himself from the stare, slammed the door shut, and dropped to his knees in front of her. "Are you all right?" he breathed, reaching for the badly bruised temple but winced and backed away before he actually touched it.

She slapped his hand away anyway. "I'm fine," she snapped. "Just don't touch me." Pissed off and hurt, she tore the rest of the shirt from her shoulders and threw it on the stone floor. 

Luke's eyes widened a little at the first sight of her bra but quickly closed his mouth and backed away on the floor like a frightened animal. The shirt was falling apart anyway, so he would have done the same thing. But when his eyes moved away from that part of her exposed skin, he saw the black shading of her right shoulder and a completely separate bruise on her left wrist. Luke cleared his throat and scrambled off the floor, mumbling, "Let me get you some ice."

Kess glared at him as he disappeared into the bathroom. She tried reach for her feet but the pain shot up her leg when she bent over and she sat up again with a gruesome wince.

Luke came out of the bathroom with a cold pack and a dry rag, having suddenly remembered that they were on the planet that _invented_ the drought. He tossed the useless rag on the bed and handed her the cold pack. "What happened?" he asked quietly, and went to the single chair that his shirt was draped over.

 "He beat me up! Do I have to draw you diagrams!?" She waved her hand in the air at him, then tried to reach for her boots again and failed.

Luke gave her an indignant look and brought the farmboy wrap-around to her shoulders. "That's not what I meant," he whispered as if he had to explain his question.

Kess hissed impatiently, "No lectures now. Okay? Will you just- help me take my boots off." She pulled the ivory cloth deeper around her shoulders and could smell Luke in its fabric. Her anger saddened a little and she closed her eyes in a violent curse.

Luke sighed and lowered to his knees. His fingers began to unravel the laces from one boot. Kess fell back on the bed and started to unbutton the folds in her baggy pants. Luke paused a moment, but convinced himself that there was probably a medical reason why she was stripping in his hotel room. He continued to gently pull the boot off but a hard lump in an otherwise baggy pants leg suddenly jerked downward. His lips parted as he realized what it was, and when the boot came away, the lightsaber fell into his hand. He looked at it in disappointment and then looked at her, "You didn't tell him."

"He stopped listening long before I got to that part," she grunted and sat up again, wincing as she pushed the pants over her hips. "But two out of three ain't bad. I didn't lose my temper and I didn't hate him for his point of view." 

Luke rapped the hilt on his forehead with a tested sigh, and then put it on the ground, bringing his attentions to the other boot. By the time he'd gotten it off, she had pushed the pants all the way down to follow the rest of her clothes to the floor. Luke rose to sit on the bed next to her and tend to some of the wounds but she gave him a look to kill.

His hands went in the air, "Okay, okay." And he was forced to watch as she laid the cold pack gingerly on a black and blue hip. Looking her up and down, sitting there in her underwear and his shirt, he saw that she was beaten and bruised as though she hadn't fought back. But he had _told_ her not to fight back. He didn't know he had to tell her it was okay to defend herself. He didn't know her father was going to do this. He didn't know what she was getting into. He even whispered it aloud in overwhelming guilt, "I didn't know."

Kess gave up on her hip and nearly slapped the cold pack on her eyebrow, that bruise apparently not hurting as much. "Would it have made a difference? You still would have sent me to face him. Wouldn't you?"

Luke's eyes darted to her and darted away. He nodded pathetically. 

Kess could feel his guilt and finally let the frustration melt away. His shoulder muscles bulged from the tank top yet he sat there like beaten pup. Kess suddenly felt guilty for taking it out on him. It wasn't Luke's fault. She fully understood the need for her to face her father on this, from the Jedi point of view. And Kess, taking the pain her father inflicted, out on Luke, was just like her father, taking the pain her mother's death inflicted, out on Kess. 

She swallowed her sudden tears and whispered. "Ben and Obi Wan are the same guy?" She gritted her teeth with a weak smile and sniffed. 

Luke turned to her on the bed with a nod. "But I didn't know he was your grandfather until that day at the clearing," he said softly. "You never told me what his name was."

Kess stared at the wall as she spoke, "My grandfather failed training your father?" She muttered the irony in disappointment, then whispered the name, "Obi Wan and Darth Vader."

Ben died on the Death Star, _thirty years_ after he left for the Academy. Why in a black hole hadn't he visited his children? Or his grandchildren? She was insulted and ripped to pieces by her father's undying anger about the whole thing. He beat her so hard this time, she wasn't sure if he'd ever let up.

The cold pack had fallen to the bed in her mental digression and Luke took it from her hand. With a look of sympathy, he placed it gently on her bruised shoulder. She glanced at him ready to snap again, but her expression was falling apart. She licked the drying blood from her lip and her brows knotted together. Luke's free hand touched on the small of her back and she hesitantly fell into his shoulder, finally letting herself cry about it. His chin rested on her forehead and his arms closed around her, nonchalantly tossing the cold pack away. 

Her body didn't quiver with the usual signs of a good cry. She just had tears falling slowly down her cheeks in a wide-eyed stupor. "I think," she whispered into his neck, "you owe me that terribly long story now."

She could hear his voice rumbling in his chest, "Why don't you let me tell you in the morning? You-"

"No." She pulled away slightly to look him in the eye, already shaking her head. "Tell me now."

Luke saw her eyes pleading at him for a morsel of truth to trust him with and nodded obediently, "All right." He pulled her into his arms again and sucked in a chest full of air. "I was eighteen years old when it started." Kess closed her eyes and listened to his voice from his breast. She drank in the smell of him and felt the arms around her, and, for the moment, she felt safe again. He brushed the frazzled hair to her back and stared into the air as he told her the story as he lived it, "Uncle Owen needed another R2 unit for the west end vaporator, and Aunt Beru needed a droid that spoke Bocce. . . ."

Over the next several hours, Luke talked like he never had before. Luke told her about meeting Han and about saving Leia. He told her about trying to train by himself on Hoth and he told her about training with Yoda on Dagobah. Eventually, she pulled away from his arms to lay down on the bed. She was exhausted, but still listening in complete interest. Luke kept talking, complaining, admitting, and reliving all the intricate details that got him from then to now. He propped his elbow into the pillow and rested his head in his hand and he told her everything that happened. He was telling her the details of how his father died when he realized just how much he'd been saying out loud. 

He paused in the middle of his sentence, looking into her sleepy brown eyes as if he just realized whom he was talking to. Then he realized how comfortable it was just to talk to her. 

Kess blinked slowly. Her eyes only opened half way again. Her whisper was more supportive that it was curious, "So, what did you do?"

Luke paused a moment, staring at her. Then he blinked, closed his mouth and swallowed hard. "I um, took his body with me back to Endor and I cremated him there." His eyes darted to the small sliver of empty blanket that was between them. "I didn't tell Leia and Han about him turning back until later. They were all so happy. I didn't want to spoil it for them on the first Victory night."

Kess reached out and softly put her palm on his cheek. She brushed her thumb across his lips and lowered her hand again. 

Luke stared at her tenderly as she did it. He saw the bruises on her face, the tiny cut on her lip, and the fatigue in her eyes. "Go to sleep," he whispered.

She rubbed her lips together and slowly blinked. "Isn't there more of the story?"

He watched her cuddle her head deeper into the pillow, scooting slightly closer to him. "Yes," he whispered back, "but the rest isn't about Skywalkers or Kenobis."

Kess sighed a smile into his shoulder, "You'll tell me when I'm ready. Right?"

"No." Luke wrapped his arms around her body, lowered his head to the pillow, and closed his eyes. "I'll tell you when you're rested." He could feel her consciousness drift into a deep healing trance right there in his arms and he sighed into her hair.

**  **  **  **  **  **  **

The bruises had yellowed during the night. The Jedi trick worked much better than any cold pack would have, but he still held her with extreme caution in case she was still in physical pain. Luke's still waking eyes suddenly focused on smooth curves as though he forgot he'd fallen asleep with her. Even though he was wearing his cotton pants and they had forgotten the covers entirely, he could feel her sleek legs entangled in his. The ivory wrap-around loosely covered her torso, but the neckline drifted off her shoulder, the lace of her bra barely peaked out from under the fabric. 

 With his free hand, Luke rubbed the sleep from his eyes, and looked down at her again to see if she was still there. Blonde hair lay splashed over his arm, warm breath danced across his chest as her head cuddled into his shoulder. Luke put his arm down again so he could just lay there for a while, but he carefully chose a spot for his hand to go. He carefully set it on her waist, over the fabric of his shirt, and, despite the intense need to explore further, he made it stay there. Luke swallowed hard as he watched her, fighting between what he should do and what he wanted to do.

She started to wake up on her own and tightened her grip around his naked waist before she roused enough to realize she was sleeping with him. She refused to open her eyes, but as she realized he was already awake and staring at her, she couldn't keep the embarrassment from spreading across her mouth. 

Cuddling with her was like this was growing more dangerous by the minute and he was already breaking his own rules. But right now, the lack of female attention for over ten long years was disturbing his Jedi wisdom. All he wanted was her, if only just to lay there for a little while longer.

She slithered deeper into his grip, trying to pretend that she was still asleep. His fingers inadvertently wandered around to the small of her back and rested on her naked skin. He closed his eyes and froze before he did something really stupid. She relaxed in his grip and rested, enjoying the feeling as long as possible while her mind slowly came alive.

"What are you thinking?" she finally whispered into his collarbone.

Luke didn't move an iota when he said it, "I'm thinking how easy it would be to make love to you right now."

Just the words sent shivers up her spine. She inhaled at it.

"What are you thinking?" he asked.

Her breath brushed across his neck, "How easy it would be to let you." 

He inhaled a deep, loud breath and shifted his head so he could look down at her. Her eyes were glazed with the same desire and the same disappointed reality. This test of discipline was tempting the master as much as the apprentice. All it would take was one caress of the fingertips, or one soft slither to move closer, or one inch to close the distance between the parted mouths.

They both closed their eyes and pressed their mouths shut. Luke actually bit his lower lip a little. Kess gritted her teeth. She carefully removed her arm from his side the same time he separated his hand from her back. In unspoken unison, they unenthusiastically and deliberately moved away from each other, and quickly climbed off the bed. 


	4. Chapter 26

**Chapter 26**

"Can we come back in a month or so." She mumbled as they stepped away from the lobby desk. "I want to give my father a chance to cool off before I try to do this again."

Luke nodded in pride that she kept the goal in perspective and was willing to give the mid-term another shot. He followed her up the dark stairwell and pulled the black hood over his head, "You ready to head home then?"

"No," She shrugged with a grin as she opened the door to the baking desert. "Actually I was thinking that Nakida would be a good place to hide out for a few more days."

He stepped out onto the bright sand under a big blue sky. "We don't have time, we have to get to the Reception. Remember?" They strolled towards the garage across the street where the speeder-bike stayed the night, and Luke motioned to the quiet cantina that was next door to it. "You want to grab some breakfast before we head out?"

She wrapped the brown cloak around her shoulders and teased him, "Never skip a meal-" She stopped in her tracks.

Luke squinted at her the same time he sensed around. There was not one body on the street besides them, and they could see the empty road out of town for miles in each direction. He detected anger from the cantina and looked that way to see a man storming out of its door. Robes of earth tones covered a solid frame and a rock hard face drilled holes into Luke. By the time Dane had crossed the sand to them, Luke had squared his shoulders and drilled blue eyes of anger right back at him.

Kess tried to step in between the two, raising her hands to stop her father, "Dad, your drunk-" Dane barely glanced at her long enough to slap her across the face. Her head whiplashed away and stayed there, desperately collecting her patience. 

Luke tightened his jaw and his eyes narrowed at the old man, but Dane stepped up and got in his face, panting through his nose with rage, and brought his fist around to Luke's cheek. 

Luke's hardened eyes didn't move. He grabbed the fist out of the air with one hand, and sent his own fist sailing into the man's jaw with the other. The old man's head lurched backward and his whole body crumbled to the ground in a heap. Kess turned around and gasped, staring at Luke like he'd just committed a sin, but Luke ignored her. 

He wasn't finished. 

He reached down with one hand and grabbed a firm hold around the man's collar, lifting him into the air. He didn't go so far as to lift Dane's feet off the ground, but he didn't have to. Dane was spitting blood from his mouth and his face was wrinkled with the battle between a violent wrath and absolute fear. Luke brought his face nose-to-nose with him and hissed low and evil, "How do you ever expect to meet your grandchildren if you keep beating the flak out of your daughter?"

Dane's expression went a little confused until Luke dropped him. His legs found their balance and stepped backward. "You keep away from her!" He yelled, his voice losing its superiority by the second. "You just stay out of this!" His slur was starting to become obvious as he stumbled further away. "You blasted. . . son of a bitch." His growl had melted into the depressed ramblings of drunk. "My wife's dead because of you people."

Kess stared at Luke's firm glare in disbelief of what she just saw. He looked at her without changing his expression, but his voice was softer. "Are you all right?"

She just stared at him with a gaping mouth.

Luke crossed his arms at his chest and watched Mr. Lendra walking a wavy line back to the cantina. "Don't let him hit you this time," he said quietly. His eyes went to her again, his jaw still tight from the episode.

Kess closed her mouth finally, nodded at the ground, and trotted to a run to catch up with her father. She looked back once before she followed him into the building, Luke was rubbing his forehead and strolling away in no particular direction.

The cantina was empty except for the tender behind the bar. She raised a brow at the two of them, Dane fumbling for his chair and Kess trying to help him enough to keep him from hurting himself in the process. They sat down at a table that had been lived in for hours, and she hid her face in her hands for an exasperated sigh. 

"It's the company you keep, precious," Dane told her as if they had been talking about trouble with the bullies at school. 

She looked at him impatiently. "Dad, you just swung at Luke Skywalker."

Dane grabbed his drink from the table, "Yep, and I'll do it again if ever gets near you."

She slapped a hand over her eyes. Kess was tired of this. Absolutely sick and tired of her father blowing up over every little thing that wasn't precisely the way he wanted it. She was sick of the dictating and the lying, sick of the yelling and the hitting, and sick of this ridiculous blame that every Jedi in the galaxy was responsible fore mom's death. She sighed wearily and reached for a half empty glass that didn't have an owner. "Luke has never done a thing to you, dad."

The fire re-ignited in his eyes, "He's trying to take my only daughter."

She curled her lip at him, "He's not _taking_ me anywhere."

"Then, where we're you going just now, " he challenged.

"Home!" she waved her hands at him. "We were going home! Back to Yavin 4. That's where I live. That's where I work. We only came here so I could talk to you about this, but _you_ weren't in the mood to listen."

"Listen!" He shouted at her, leaning over the table, "If you would have listened to me all along we wouldn't even be having this conversation! I've been telling you all along that the Jedi are nothing but trouble!"

She leaned back over the table and hissed in his face, "Then why is it that I'm fine when with him and I just get the crap beat out of me when I'm with you!?" Her father only blinked, so she continued. "I _am_ in the Alliance, and I _am_ a Jedi Apprentice whether _you like it or not!_ You want to bang me up every time I come home? Then fine, I'll just stop coming home! Is that what you want!?"

Dane looked like he'd seen a ghost when he stared at her. The alcohol had switched the anger back to depression. "Well, no, precious."

She stood up and screamed, "AND DON'T CALL ME PRECIOUS!"

A fury shot from his eyes and he reached across the table. Kess blocked the fist with her forearm. Dane froze, staring at her in even more fury, angry because he couldn't get his aggressions out. 

"You can yell at me all you want," she hissed at him through clenched teeth, "but you are not going to hit me. And I already know you're not going to like what I have to say, but we are going to sit right here and talk until_ I am finished_."

Dane blinked, tightened the furrow in his gray eyebrows, and pulled his fist away from her block, crossing his arms at his chest.

**  **  **  **  **  **  **

Luke stepped out into the fading daylight and spotted Kess immediately. The giant sand dunes beyond the town stretched out to a peach horizon. The sun setting beyond the dusty ripples seemed close enough to reach out and touch. But a mahogany dot on the crest of the first large dune shattered the image of the ethereal scene. Luke shrugged off the hood of his cloak and started strolling in that direction.

He hadn't peeked all day. He stayed out of the way as much as he could, but couldn't help touching on her surface emotions from time to time. As the hours passed, her darkest sides were erupting so that they could wash away from her soul. But even if she had lost her temper and turned to the dark side to kill her father, Luke would not have lifted a finger. He was listening for a fear of danger before he would intercede, even though it was still against the rules. Thank the Force that didn't happen.

She talked to her father for several hours at the cantina, screamed at him actually, and then she was filled with sullenness. She had walked her father back to his house where they talked for hours longer. Luke could detect a progression as the day went on, the anger came out first, then the bitterness, and it slowly devolved into a gut-wrenching pain. The pain dulled to sorrow, and that's when she left Dane in his house and perched herself on a sand dune to meditate the rest away. Luke had waited for her consciousness to blink on again before he went to find her. As his feet sunk into the fresh drift, he turned his senses completely on and drank in her peace glowing as bright as the sun reflecting off the sand.

The crest beside her crumbled under his boots and sent a small wave to tumble slowly into the shallow scoop. Her hair fell in braid-kinked locks down the chocolate cloak but one lock waved in the cooling breeze over a tear stained cheek. Brown eyes had dried though, staring blankly at the pink horizon.

Luke sat down beside her in silence, propping his elbows on bent knees, and stared out to the vast sand ocean as well.

Kess whispered into the sunset, "My grandfather didn't leave until my mother was in her teens," she swallowed to speak in voice, but it was dry and tired. "He left to fight in the Clone Wars and had to go into hiding before they were over. Something about. . . " she smiled a little, "about hiding Vader's offspring." Kess gave him a tired grin.

Luke pursed his lips and guiltily looked away.

Kess stared back out at the sunset, but released the hold on her knees so her legs could stretch down into the slope. "Turns out my grandmother had to lie and say that he was dead so the Imperials wouldn't look for him. By the time I started to ask questions, my parents still hated him for it, they continued the lie to keep the same thing from happening to Nik and I."

Luke gazed at the sand and nodded in understanding, now that the pieces of Ben's history were falling into place.

"My father was angry at Vader for killing the Jedi and having children that Obi Wan had to take care of... -that took him from my mother... -that they grew up and had to have Alderaan blown up to get one of them to talk -which killed my mother -which destroyed my father's control over his temper -which drove his own kids away and got me in the same military with you. . .  now when I started training with you, it launched the whole damned thing all over again." She blew up at her bangs wearily and then shook her head with a grin. "That _is_ one _hell_ of a long story."

Luke smiled warmly at her, but said nothing.

Kess watched the perfectly round sun dip beyond the horizon and send a mirage of pink and lavender heat waves over the far off sand. "He had bottled it all up because he couldn't handle it and his temper would explode from time to time. . . I didn't know that before. I had to sense it to see." She licked her lower lip thoughtfully, "All this time, I though he believed it was my fault all that happened."

Luke thought for a second and gazed at her again. He took her hand, weaved his fingers into hers and gently pulled her over until her ear dropped against his upper arm. She closed her eyes and took in the dry air for a cleansing sigh. She blinked her eyes open again, still watching the sunset as she hugged his arm. "I got him to break the bottle, and for the first time since I've known him, he finally cried over mom."

Luke lightly squeezed her hand.

She whispered, "Do you ever cry?"

Luke paused but nodded, "Mm hm."

"When?" She suddenly sat up, looking at him curiously. "When was the last time you cried?"

Nervous blue eyes darted to the sand as he inhaled, be held his breath a moment as he found the words. His entire sigh escaped as he spoke, "The night my apprentice quit." He looked up to find her still staring curiously back, having not expected anything close to that response. 

She smiled shyly, "Sorry."

He peered at her out of the corner of his eye. Her Force was shining brighter than he'd ever seen in her before. The long turmoil of the day had busted open her own bottled up dark side and her Jedi practices and meditations had already washed the old pain away. 

The only emotion left to color her contentment was the warm peach of happiness and love. Her emotional cloud, now, probably looked better then his.

**  **  **  **  **  **  **

Luke was still buttoning up his shirt when he stepped onto the bridge. He looked out at the streaks of stars, doing pilot-like calculations in his head about their route, drastically off the beaten path of hyperspace routes, and then glanced at Kess.

"How was your shower?" She asked without taking her eyes off the datapad.

Luke's eyes narrowed on her for a second and then he leaned to the environmental controls to turn up the heat a little. "It was fine," he said slowly, knowing she was about to pop out something new at him. 

Her voice brightened casually. "You know, I was thinking while you were in there." 

Luke smirked and dropped tiredly into the pilot's chair. "I had a feeling you were." He said pessimistically and then curled his lip in innocent confusion. "I kept sensing deceit from this part of the ship."

Kess cocked her head guiltily, "Well, I was thinking about this haphazard curriculum of yours." She happily tossed the dry reading aside and swiveled her chair around to him. "And I was thinking about your terribly long story of your own years of training. And all the little details you had to overcome because your Jedi Masters kept dying on you."

Luke patiently folded his hands together on his lap, grinning as he waited for the other shoe to fall. "Okay. . . ?"

She grinned, "And well, since your final test was facing your father, my final test should be the same, wouldn't you think? So, what's to say I'm not finished?"

Luke's eyes darted away in a smiling thought but the twinkle of mortality was colored by a Master's wisdom. "The physical act of facing your father, or me facing mine, had little to do with it."

Kess' childish coaxing melted slightly. It was worth a try,b ut she knew all along that actually going up against her father was not the point of the exercise. It was about facing her dark emotions. She wondered what it was that she had left to face. She couldn't really sense any other skeletons in her soul to have to deal with, well, except for her feelings for Luke, but he wasn't going to make her 'face' that one more than they already had. . .  would he? Boy, _that_ could get interesting.

Then she realized that facing off the emotions of their relationship were just as new to her as it was for him. She stared blankly out at the stars and the vast sea of space. Somehow, space didn't seem as big as that ocean of sand outside that little town her father had retired in. Her voice was as faraway as her thoughts, "May I ask you a personal question?"

Luke's eyes shifted again, this time in slight concern about his own self-confidence. Rarely did she actually ask permission to ask a personal question, and the question was never personal when she did, but they always seemed to prod at his heartbeat. Soon, his heartbeat would no longer be his own to control. "Sure." He mumbled, trying to sound casual, and leaned back in the chair. 

She didn't continue immediately, and for the moment she was silent, he daydreamed about what the question would be. He caught his thoughts wandering and reeled them in again, the mental action becoming more tedious by the day. Yoda's raspy wisdom echoed in his memory, _Control. Do not Deny._ Luke grinned slightly and whispered, in his mind, his answer to the question he'd imagined. _Yes, I do._

"What was the hardest for you to master?"

Luke's sighed away his previous thought and yanked his mind back to the present, just so he could send it into the past. His whole training summarized into a split second, all the quiet notes of confidence and correction from Ben and Yoda rattling off in one long sentence. It was immediately obvious what was hardest for him to master at the time, and in the present situation, he wondered if he would ever actually get it right. He tapped his thumbnail on his lower lip twice, half-hiding and half-showing his embarrassed grin. "Patience," he admitted.

Kess gave him that look again, curious, surprised, disbelieving. "Patience?" she echoed like the idea was preposterous. "You?"

Luke let his full smile shine at her and leaned his elbows onto his knees. 

Her brown eyes twinkled a little and she leaned forward on her own knees. Her husky voice carried that same thick insinuation that Luke was growing to like. "So, how did you conquer it?"

Luke didn't back away. He stared at her eyes, knowing exactly what she was thinking, and finally decided it was useless to keep pawing the subject away. "I'm not sure I have." He admitted confidently. "The training may end, but the tests never do."

"Really." She said, folding her arms across her knees. She eyed him curiously, but not trying very hard to fake a purely professional conversation. "Has your patience been tested recently then?"

Luke cocked his head slightly, rubbed his lips together, and grinned his affirmative. "You have no idea." 

She smiled at that and stayed intent on his eyes despite the humor in her whisper. "Since you're the one in complete control of all this, it'll be interesting to see how long your patience holds out." Kess raised an eyebrow _en guarde. _

The heat in his eyes made her start to wonder if his months of silence gave her the completely wrong impression about the mortal male underneath. The intent in his eyes barely smiled and entrapped her in a stare that made her feel sixteen years old. Kess caught her breath, locked in his blue eyes as his face began to reach slowly forward. His mouth parted with a slow, clean inhale, and his nose brushed against hers, but blue eyes remained open and unshaking.

That's where he stopped. 

His eyes shifted up in thought, "Mm no," he said as easily as if he'd just decided to skip desert and backed away, the joke dancing across his casual tone. "I think I can't last a little while longer."

Kess closed her mouth and blinked.

Luke sat back in his chair laughed evilly at her.

Kess reached over and slapped him in the knee. "That wasn't very nice." She snapped, fighting the smile in her eyes. Luke just laughed harder, hiding his eyes with his hand until the chuckling had reddened his face. He glowed at her, "Yeah, but the look on your face was priceless."

She tightened her jaw not to smile, narrowed her eyes to keep them from sparkling. The Force was wide open. There were no walls, no secrets. No 'it's a long story' and no 'tell you when you're ready's'. He wouldn't say it, but he wasn't hiding it either. And he knew damned well that she was basking in his bright red-pink Force print.

His giggle calmed with a happy, parent-like sigh, and he weaved his fingers together in front of him. "When we get back, I'm going to go over all my notes and try to determine exactly what you have left to do," he offered. "You've gotten through what was probably the hardest part. You've been at a new level of peace since we left. The emotional symbolism behind facing your father was dug out the dark core that was heading your ability to master everything else." His voice gradually drifted back to business as he defended his decision. "I want to see you perfect the other exercises a little more. Now that the dark core is gone, it should be a piece of cake."

Kess leaned back in the swivel chair and studied him seriously. She let her accusation out gently, but still quick enough to catch him off guard. "Why are you so scared to graduate me?"

The smile in Luke's eyes vanished. Words of innocence and defense stopped in his throat. He looked away uncomfortably, cursing himself. He should have known from the beginning, should have seen it coming months ago, that it would only be a matter of time before she saw through him like a pane of glass. 

His facade no longer worked with her. His seriousness, his firmness, his decided logic, and religiously practiced serenity. . . all crumbled away from the duties of teaching by example because their effectiveness had disintegrated. He wondered why she would ask permission to ask a 'personal question' that wasn't personal, and blurt out anything else that would slap him across the face.

By his own reaction he suddenly recognized that what she said was true. He was scared to graduate her. Seeing her alone everyday for training, having her look up to him the way she did and humbly follow his Jedi direction had all gotten too comfortable. He was too attached to her, and therefore too scared to hand over the torch and let her fly solo. He could lose her if he did it too early. 

His voice grated through his throat. "I'm afraid I've missed something." He licked parched lips and met her eyes somberly. "I'm afraid I made too many mistakes."

"Are you still afraid I'm going to turn into Miss Vader?"

The severity in both their eyes was equal. He never had the chance to admit it, but she knew it anyway.

**Bzzt... Bzzt... Bzzt...**

Kess looked to the blinking red light on the console "That's one hell of a short cut."

Luke shook his head. "We shouldn't be there yet." He flipped off the collision detector and killed hyperspace. Lines of light slowed to pinpoints and a beautiful night sky filled the window. "Check if someone was just flying into our path."

Kess immediately went to the scopes and punched at the IFF buttons. "There's nobody here." She said slightly confused. "We're twenty nine parsecs from the nearest system and that's only Tange Rak." She sighed and stared out the blackness of space broken only by the stars. "We're in the middle of nowhere. Why would the collision detector go off?"

Luke leaned back in the pilot's seat, staring out the window and chewing on the inside of his cheek. He shook his head with an, 'I don't know', then the Force suddenly tingled at them both. Luke straightened his back, grabbing the throttle and Kess went back to the monitors, raising shields and tapping on the IFF buttons again.

"Oh boy," she sighed.

"Where are they?" His voice was stiff.

"One-two-six by four-four-six." Luke yanked the stick in that direction as she continued the report. "Distance at two point three six. Seven- no, eight targets. . .  Nine." She looked out the window to see them. "They're still coming out of hyperspace." 

His mouth tightened as they came into view, and he immediately cut all power to the thrusters until they floated in space. The Jedi's ship were still far enough away not too be seen with the naked eye, and no power meant that no sensors would detect their little transport ship. 

An entire fleet of Star Destroyers was coming out of hyperspace and began massing for real-space travel. Luke stared at the collection in thought. They were far away from any inhabited systems, far from any public routes, and deep in Alliance territory. Luke began to regret not calling in to Leia for the past two weeks.

"Aren't you going to ask them what they're doing here?"

Luke turned to her like she was nuts, "In this pea shooter?!"

She grinned, "So, the Big Bad War Hero is going to run from a couple of measly Star Destroyers?" 

Luke shot her a glare and leaned over to the navcomputer. "My dear Apprentice, one of the most important things you will ever learn is knowing when _not_ to fight."

She stuck her tongue in her cheek, "So what are we going to do?"

Luke turned back to the console, grabbed the throttle for the light speed engines and pulled back. He let out a cockeyed grin, "We're gonna run home and tell mom."


	5. Chapter 27

**Chapter 27**

**Friday**

The tiny transport ship came out of hyperspace and sailed around the glowing orange planet of Yavin. The emerald moon that lay beyond was encircled with fleets of Mon Calamari cruisers, Corellian frigates, and Bothan battleships. Kess watched in awe as Luke slowed the ship and weaved around the buzzing battle groups. He adjusted the headset and muttered, "Looks like it's going to be a hell of a party."

Kess then realized that the Minister of State reception was today, and these were the flagships for every politician in the New Alliance, here to represent their systems in the snobbiest of festivities. She pursed her lips and made a bet with herself that she wouldn't meet one person at the Minister of State reception that really knew how to party. It was too bad she had to behave herself while she was there.

"Yavin Control; Seiger Van: Come in, please," Luke said flatly into the mike.

A moment of crackle sounded before they heard Joanne's delighted response. "Seiger Van; Yavin Control: Good afternoon and welcome home, sir!"

Luke grinned, "Control; Seiger Van: Request permission to approach. Vector two-six-two and seven-seven-five. Distance three-point-seven-five parsecs... "

Joanne spotted the blip on her monitors and started punching in the necessary numbers. "Seiger Van; Control: Switch to secured channel two-six-three, send your clearance code and _state your cargo_," she said gallantly.

The right numbers blinked on in the right place on her console, and Commander Skywalker's voice came back on the secured channel just this side of stale. "Seiger Van on secured channel two-six-three. Clearance code sent. Passengers only."

"Clearance code accepted." Joanne glanced out the giant window of the tower and watched a dot move from the sky to the horizon. She kept tapping the controls and reading readings to get them down through the zoo of air traffic. She keyed into to flight ops on Pad 36 and engaged him in a chat, just to see what kind of mood he was in. "Did you have a good vacation, sir?" Pad 36 Flight Ops reported in her other ear to wait until they cleared a zone transport. She switched to that channel for a moment to respond to Pad 36.

In the ship, Luke glanced at Kess and back at the growing view of the base. Kess smiled in caring, "She's worried about me."

Luke nodded, understanding, and switched back on with a deliberate grin in his voice, "She's fine, she's happy and we're business as usual." His carefully cryptic statement was safe for everybody's ears and still transmitted the message the girly girls were anxious to hear.

Joanne glanced up and saw the dot had grown to a small dark knot in the sky and smiled into the mike. "Thank you, sir. I'll pass that along."

A thousand different pilots would be impatient for a landing pattern by now, but with all the family coming to visit, most of the procedures took two beats longer than usual. Joanne was a little surprised when Skywalker wasn't aggravated, just a little sarcastic. "I don't mean to bother you, Joanne. . . " Luke said as a joke, "But would you mind finding us a place to park?"

Landing the Seiger Van was the last incoming for Joanne's morning watch. She ripped off the headpiece and hopped out of the chair as soon as they dipped into the open doors of Pad 39. Her lunchtime relief didn't give the chair a chance to get warm and was landing more ships by the time Joanne dove into the break room in the back of the tower. She grabbed a drink, fell into a squeaky chair, and punched in a number at the comm port.

"Hey, Kaila! Comm call!"

Kaila's eyes were scouring a giant schematic and didn't blink to wave a hand at the grunt that answered her phone. She pulled her attentions away reluctantly, stepped to the comm port, and flipped it on. "Korbosi."

"Hey, girly girl." Joanne greeted as her smile sizzled onto the screen. "Guess who's home?"

"They're back?" Kaila said brightly and glanced at Stev. He stepped up beside her with several datapads but waited patiently on the side for her attention.

"They're landing right now," Joanne clarified. "Did you pick up the dress yet?"

Kaila dropped her volume, "No, not yet. Could you tell? How did they sound?"

Joanne smiled, "Commander Skywalker cracked a joke on the Ops Channel. What does that tell yeah?"

Kaila took that as happy news. "Make sure you guys verify that she's going before I get there. I'll see you after work."

"We'll try. See yea-" Joanne cut herself off to turn off the comm port.

Stev leaned onto the port terminal and lowered his voice, "Don't get too presumptuous about our neighborhood Jedi, Kaila," he warned. "Kess' has been transferred back to Gold Group, effective immediately upon return."

The smile on Kaila's face vanished. "Transferred?" Her tone dropped further, "Why?"

Stev shrugged as he stepped backwards to the schematic table. "I didn't ask. Just don't make any assumptions that might stir up more rumors, okay?"

Kaila's lips pressed together, and she nodded. _Transferred? Already? They just got home? Or did the transfer come from someone besides Skywalker?_ Kaila blew a sigh out of her mouth, dropped into her chair at her desk and punched in a quick mail message.

**To:Lieutenant Yana Deitrik55147-YANA @CICSYS.MIL**

**FR:Lieutenant Junior Grade Kaila Korbosi 98634-KKRB @GLDGRP.MIL**

**Re:The other girly**

**Kess is home. Arriving now. Just got word that she's been transferred back to Gold Group and I'm a little worried. I know you can't say what you hear in the CIC bunker, but if there is something going on behind Kess' back, consider whispering it in her ear. She need to know what she's up against, whether she's got security clearance or not. If I don't see you before, see you later. **

**Kaila**

Blue geometric shapes reflected on Yana's face until she quickly deleted the message and turned away from the monitor. "Captain Solo, do you have a moment?"

Han shot a finger in the air at her to 'wait one' and finished entering coordinates on the holomap before turning to her. "What?"

Yana leaned her elbow on the back of her chair. "Commander Skywalker and Lieutenant Lendra are landing now, sir." She jerked her head in the direction where several Admirals had recently disappeared. "Would you like me to invite the Jedi to that meeting."

Han's mouth twisted in thought and he turned towards the door. "Just Luke," Han stressed. "But I want a clearance request for Kess so she can go to the next one." He pulled out his comm link and spoke into it as he stepped away, "Hey, Your Worshipfullness, guess who's home?"

Yana grinned with a quiet, "Yes, sir," and turned to her terminal. She tapped in Luke's link number and gave him a few good tweets. _Twee twee tweet. . .  Twee twee tweet. . . _

_Twee twee tweet. . ._ Luke's feet hadn't even hit the duracreet ground yet. He stepped off the ramp and pulled out his comm link with a sarcastic grunt. "_That_ was fast." He flipped it on, "Skywalker."

Kess swung her bag over one shoulder and chuckled sympathetically.

"Commander, this is Lieutenant Deitrik in the CIC bunker. Welcome home."

Luke grinned and gave Kess a knowing look, "Thank you, Yana. She's here, she's fine, and she's not mad at me anymore. Anything else?" He was chuckling by the time he'd finished his sentence.

Yana was still calming her laughter when her voice came through, "Actually, sir, you've been called into a meeting as soon as you're available."

Responsibility colored reluctance across Luke expression and he mumbled back, "I'm on my way." He looked longingly at Kess as he put the comm link away and let out a weary sigh. 

Her eyes warmed at him as they stood there a moment, wishing they could just jump right back in the ship and leave again. 

Luke absentmindedly licked his lower lip. "I guess I'll see you on the pad."

She gestured at his casual clothes, the rolled up sleeves and the fitful shaggy hair. "You're not going to go home and change first?"

Luke looked down at himself and shook his head. "No, I um. . . I'll explain later."

"Okay," Kess shrugged, stepping slowly away, "See yeah."

Luke sighed, "Bye."

**  **  **  **  **  **  **

Kess hurried home to change into her uniform and ran to Pad 14, ready to get back to business. She strutted into the manager's office with a smile on her face, "I'm back."

Neilson grinned at her from his desk, "You're _gone_. The transfer you requested came through." He tossed a datacard in her direction and joked lightly. "And I won't get on your case about jumping the chain of command if you help me find a replacement for you."

Kess closed her eyes and cursed. Luke must've sent up the request while she was out cold from the kidnapping. But she couldn't be mad at him for it, he had done exactly what she asked him to. She sighed heavily, "I suggest you bump Ashten up to Repair Sup, and I know a good Floor Sup for her division."

Neilson thought for a second. "I'll talk to the Commander about it. Where is he?"

Kess slumped down at her desk and blew up at her bangs sarcastically, "Where do you think?"

It took less than an hour to turn over her duties and passwords back to Neilson. There were few mail messages for her that hadn't already been tended to by other members of repair. One message was curious though, Stev Shorkey had already listed out a summary of duties she was to attend to immediately upon reporting to Pad 9. Kess rubbed her forehead. She just finishes the grounding of one group, only to be transferred to the other and do it all over again. 

Rogue Group was running at 97 percent and would be back in the air for maneuvers if it weren't for the fleet-wide ground. Because of they're near perfect status now, they were sent out to fill in for system watches and small missions while the rest of the fleet busied with repairs. Rogue Twelve was the only X-wing that sat crumbled in the corner, the portside wings ripped off at the s-foils. The beaten ship was waiting for its ride to the scrap pile. She stared at the wingless wonder for a moment, remembering Lokey's last stand, and finally left Pad 14.

**  **  **  **  **  **  **

Luke was accosted immediately upon entering the Council Building. Yana and Threepio handed him datacards as they rattled off greetings and gossip, and walked him most of the way to the conference room. The military strategy meeting had been going on for an hour already and it seemed that more had happened over the last two weeks than Luke was prepared for. Luke blinked rapidly at them, trying to record and remember all the information he was suddenly getting, and then shook his head when they peeled off to other halls. He gathered the datacards in one hand and opened the door with the other. The voices inside went silent and twenty officers looked at him.

Luke paused and stared back at the different sets of eyes for a moment. Mon Mothma sat at the far end of the table, her hands resting calmly in her lap. Leia, Han, and Lando were there, so was Ackbar, Nadine, Drayson, Sikey and at least ten other uniforms. Luke blinked, closed his mouth, and cleared the door to shut it behind him, suddenly regretting not changing into a uniform before coming here.

"Welcome back, Commander." Mon Mothma greeted politely as he found a seat, "How was your trip?"

Luke could sense the discomfort and the curiosity and squinted a little. "It was productive." Had they just been talking about him? Or were they just overly anxious about his absence? No. They were talking. The military council didn't get this nervous when Luke was gone.

"That's wonderful news." Admiral Ackbar leaned his webbed hands on the tabletop toward him and let out the Calamarian equivalent of a smile, "How soon can we expect another Jedi Knight amongst our ranks?"

Luke glanced at Leia, wishing he could have talked to her before he walked in. He calmed his uneasiness and spoke with the perfect political tap dance. "Pretty soon, I think. She accomplished a great deal on this trip." He looked over at Mon Mothma, half reporting the status, "But I haven't reviewed my notes to be able to comfortably make a time estimate."

Mon Mothma looked as calm and expressionless as always, and nodded. 

General Nadine asked from the far corner. "How is her health?" 

Luke narrowed an eye at the General as he absentmindedly rubbed the stubble on his chin, and then gave the same suspecting look to Han. "Her health is fine." One at a time, he met the eyes of the many who were looking at him. They knew damned well that he could sense their impatience without even working at it. Luke was starting to get offended at the unspoken accusations. "No offense but, is this a strategy meeting or were you guys really this worried about my apprentice?"

"Both," Admiral Ackbar admitted. "I understand that you've just landed and haven't read the new data?"

Luke's eyebrows hardened a little. "That is correct."

Leia folded her hands together on the tabletop. "The Imperial fleet has made some drastic movements since the Battle of Rogue Twelve. They've moved several battle groups from inconspicuous locations to stop by Coruscant for a few days, and then take off again. But we've only received sightings for less than half their fleet because several of our far out satellites have been destroyed. And we've intercepted two more messages to the Imperial spies, one of which has mentioned Kess by name."

"There's a price on her head now," Han said. "Twenty thousand credits dead, Fifty thousand alive."

"Fifty?" Luke raised a brow and grinned a little. "Isn't that more than yours?" Han's mouth cocked to the side. Lando hid a smirk with his fingers.

"We've all analyzed the data and it seems as though Kadaan is planning for another attack," General Nadine said from the seat next to Luke. "But he's scattered his fleet in such a random manner that we've come up with a dozen possible strategies he could be preparing for. The _good_ news is that the nearest battle group is still over three days away, so we have time to prepare for it. . . whatever _it_ is."

"Two and a half," Luke corrected. "We ran into another battle group on the way here. Four Star Destroyers and seven support ships about a half a light-year outside of Tange Rak." He watched Admiral Ackbar's salmon skin pale a little. 

General Nadine muttered to his folded hands, "But that two day clock doesn't start ticking until they move. We've got watches on alert to keep our eye on them. I'll get more watches on the Tange Rak battle group."

"Where is he suddenly getting all this firepower?" Luke asked, "Are these reinforcements coming in from the Core Worlds?"

Leia shook her head, "He pulled out of several systems in the forth quadrant. The treaty proposals are in the works. Several ambassadors are attending the Reception tonight to get them moving."

Admiral Drayson scratched a rubbery ear, "Why don't you and Lendra take a look at it over the weekend so we can get a Jedi point of view at the Council Meeting on Monday."

General Nadine grunted, "If we don't go into battle before then, of course."

Luke nodded, "I'll have to get a clearance for her, but-"

Han tossed a datacard across the table at him. It slid into Luke's neatly stacked pile and knocked it over. Nadine pulled out the card from the datapad he just happened to have in his hand and slapped it on the tabletop in front of Luke. Luke blinked with a 'you guys are a step ahead of me' expression on his face, and proceeded to pull out his signature-stick to autograph Kess' clearance request.

"Commander, while you are looking at it," Mon Mothma said it carefully, "keep in mind the Empire's response to your Jediship. I'd like to hear your views about what kind of reaction we can expect for your subsequent apprentices, and your suggestions about avoiding future confrontations over them."

Luke could sense the tone in her voice better than he could hear it, but it was definitely there. Luke nodded obediently, "Yes, Chief Commander." He felt a little in trouble for trying so hard to protect her in the Battle of Rogue Twelve, and he felt a knot in his stomach about the apparent whispering that had been going on in his absence.

The meeting slowly recovered from Luke's interruption, and Luke did more listening than commenting because he was still trying to catch up on what was going on. Admiral Ackbar reported the general state of the fleet, summarizing the timetable of the fleet-wide ground in a few short sentences. The unasked question was: how long until the fleet is back in the air? And the actual answer was: not soon enough. 

Several strategic suggestions came out for the purpose of heading off the impending battle, but no recommendation was completely convincing, and no assumption of Kadaan's intentions were completely substantial. Mon Mothma made the command decision to let the flagships leave after the reception, as scheduled, only to have them hide on the far side of the system. The council unanimously agreed to keep those battle groups around until they collected more information just in case Yavin 4 really was attacked. Each report hinted a new fact to Luke, and he grew more and more anxious to scour the stack of datacards in front of him. 

"Might there be a way," pointed out Admiral Sikey, as logical and numeric as her ideas always were, "to use Jedi Lendra's training to our advantage?" She said it like wasn't convinced it was the perfect plan, but was confident that the idea needed to be offered to Skywalker for comment.

Luke's eyes shot to the woman from under his eyebrows. "What do you mean?"

Admiral Sikey tapped an orange claw on the table and met his eye, "Is it possible that Jedi Lendra herself could open negotiations with Kadaan and try to stop this battle before it starts?"

His face wrinkled and he adjusted in his seat.

Admiral Sikey continued, "If the entire Imperial fleet is going to attack because of her presence, couldn't we head off that battle with her absence?" Admiral Sikey's bold suggestion did not need more of an explanation and she met the eyes of anyone that raised an eyebrow at her when she said it. 

Luke felt the ice crystallize over the emotions in the room.

A vision flashed in his mind: Kesselia facing off Supreme Prophet Kadaan himself, lightsaber to lightsaber, and he immediately caught his breath to swallow the lump in his throat. He wasn't about to turn Kess over just to stop one battle. He would not have considered doing that to anybody, no matter who it was. But with the uniqueness of this situation, his impulsive reaction had to be curbed before he spoke. It took several heartbeats for him to think of the politically correct words to say 'Not no, but _hell_ no!'

Han shot out to the Admiral before Luke had the chance. "Are you suggesting we turn Lendra _physically_ over to Kadaan? Trade her like she's some kind of a bargaining chip?"

Sikey leaned back in her chair, not confirming but not denying it either. It was obvious by the look on her face that she wasn't looking at the idea from quite that point of view. 

Lando quipped loudly, "Well, _hey_! Why don't we just _all_ turn ourselves in and then we won't have _any_ more battles!"

Lando's sarcasm made Luke's mouth curl a little, but soon the tension thickened again for his response. His voice came out low, careful, and firm, "The Jedi are not required, or expected, to give their lives for a government, the New Alliance included. No matter how badly Kadaan is willing to fight for her, Kess Lendra is no exception."

Sikey threw out objectively. "I'm not suggesting we sacrifice her life, just a negotiation. At least we could find out precisely why he's after her."

Luke leaned his elbows on the table, looked Sikey straight in the eye, and reworded his response in crystal clear terms. "No."

Mon Mothma broke the stare down between the two of them before it became obvious. "We must adjourn. We have covered all we can for today. We all need to prepare for the reception. The Council Meeting is scheduled for Monday morning at oh nine hundred. We'll need full attendance and status reports. Commander Skywalker, if you and Lieutenant Lendra find anything new this weekend, please call us in. Admiral Ackbar, have the groups readied before close of business today. Let them believe we are lifting the fleet wide ground as to not alert any spies. General Nadine, please have the orbital shield checked for readiness and double the ground watches."

The shuffling of datacards began and a murmur rolled through the room. Leia lowered her voice to whisper to Mon Mothma. Luke lowered his gaze to the tabletop and reached into his breast pocket. "Chief Commander? Admirals? There is one more thing."

The movement paused to hear him out, the sudden silence accenting the sound of a small piece of metal skidding across the table toward Leia. The Minister of State focused on the silver pin and blue dots and wrinkled her forehead at Luke.

Luke said it evenly. "I am officially resigning my commission as Commander of the New Alliance fleet. With your approval, Admiral Drayson, I'd like to start the procedure of turning the command of Rogue Group over to Captain Antilles."

Admiral Drayson had to think to close his mouth before he nodded.

Leia patiently folded her hands together on the table. She knew Luke wouldn't do this out of impulse. He'd been thinking about it for a while. A _long_ while. However, she was curious what the straw was that broke the camel's back for him to make this decision now.

Luke watched the eyebrows rise with questions and the jaws drop with shock. He explained quietly. "I can't keep running off for treaties and training trips and leave Rogue Group Commander-less like I have been, and it would be ridiculous to think that these sudden trips are going to stop. As soon as Lendra graduates, I need to go find my _next_ apprentice, and then I'll need to train _them_. Juggling all that, the Guild, the Academy, on top of the treaties and council meetings and strategy research, I'm away from the pad too much. They need a steady Commander they can depend on."

Mon Mothma's placid expression hadn't changed, "Will you be continuing your council seat as a representative of the Jedi Guild?"

Luke nodded, "Yes, Chief Commander." He smiled, "I'd be happy to represent all _two_ of us."

The Chief of State actually grinned a little. "Well then, Jedi Skywalker, please see to it that your Guild is replenished with more."

A shy grin crossed his face, "Yes, Chief Commander."

After a long pause, the bodies slowly started to collect their notes and move out of the chairs again. Other hush talk filled the room until the military council filed out of the door one by one. Luke rubbed his forehead and began collected his datacards with a sigh. 

Lando tried to interrupt him by plopping down in the chair next to him. "You're resigning?"

Luke gave the man a weak smile with no intentions of explaining himself further. "Hi, Lando. It's nice to see you too," he smirked and stood with his handful. Han was already on his feet behind him. The smuggler was looking slightly concerned and expecting more of a personalized status report. Luke impatiently dropped his gaze and shook his head. Then Leia stepped up. 

"Why didn't you call me?" he asked her. 

Most of the meeting attendees were already out the door, others were involved in their own conversations, so Leia wasn't worried about being overheard. "You guys needed a chance to work it out with out the Alliance breathing down your necks."

Han's voice was quiet, "Did you?"

Luke closed his eyes let out a sigh through his nose. 

"Sounds like it was a busy trip," Lando mumbled from the chair.

Luke straightened his back, rubbed his lips together "Everything is fine." He opened his eyes to his sister with disappointment. "You should have called." Luke pushed his way through them, rubbing his forehead on his way out the door.

**  **  **  **  **  **  **

Kess stuffed her hands in the front pockets of her clean coveralls and dropped a shoulder on the door jam of the Pad 9 manager's office. "I take it you guys couldn't live without me," she quietly teased Stev. 

Stev's old smile brightened his exhaustion. He folded his arms at his chest and leaned against his desk. "I said one to _four_ months, Kess. _Four_. Not _eight_." 

"Sorry, I didn't have much of a choice." Kess stepped through the door humbly. "I hear the whole fleet's been grounded."

Stev affirmed wryly and stepped behind his desk. "We've been grounded for about a week and it's already not going well. I was hoping I could get you to look at the plan and give me a few hints."

Kess nodded somberly.

Commander Tolgray strolled up beside Stev's desk and cocked his head at Kess, "Lieutenant, you have a priority message from the Minister of State" He stiffened his voice with an order. "I don't care who you are now, do _not_ jump the Chain of Command."

 "I wouldn't, Commander." She gave him a twisted smile, "She probably just wants to know if her brother behaved himself." She held out a hand to receive the datacards as Stev pulled them out of his pile one at a time. Her eyes grew a little wider with every card that was added to the stack her hand. "Boy, you guys really did miss me."

Everyone in Gold Group seemed to greet her a touch more cordially than they should have. Kess felt a little uncomfortable with them praising the Maker for her return. She was anxious to escape the manager's office and hurried to her desk where she promptly ordered Kaila out of her chair. Kaila smiled wide, got up, dusted the fraying seat cover, and swiveled it around to put Kess back in the Floor Supervisor's thrown. 

Kaila had been frazzled about the ground but not frantic. Kess wasn't worried because this was only a group of seven ships as opposed to twenty-eight. (That is, if Shorkey didn't decide to give her all of Gold Group to repair.) Kess had another agenda anyway. Instead of sending Kaila back out to tear down a Y-wing, she kept the woman at her side, nonchalantly teaching her the new tricks she'd learned about being a Repair Supervisor and fixing X-wings. Kess was thinking about Neilson last request, and she couldn't think of anybody she would trust more than Kaila when it came to Luke's X-wing and R2 unit.

Leia's message requested her presence for a treaty meeting that afternoon. Kess blew up at her bangs disliking the politics side of Jediship already. The rest of the working day was swamped with open issues laced with insinuating jokes and half-told stories about the unofficial events during Kess' absence. Yana started a class on political psychology and was spending more time studying than anything else, Joanne had been hanging out with a new Admin that worked in the Council Building and that was looking pretty good, but Kaila had a whole slew of soap opera events to tell about her continuing romance with Rett D'monck. Kess received more than one friendly insult about the council's sudden decision to ground the entire fleet, but she took it with a hidden pride that at least some of the things the brass were saying behind her back were good things.

**  **  **  **  **  **  **

Luke paused to find his peace before he open the door to Leia's new office. The assault of personal questions was bound to spark up again as soon as he entered the room. They landed four hours ago and he hadn't even left the Council Building yet. There was so much to catch up on. . .  But now that Kess had a clearance for the CIC bunker and all the information within, going through the bits and pieces with a fine tooth comb on a Saturday didn't seem so bad after all. Luke stepped in.

Leia wasn't in there, but Han was, sitting patiently on the couch. "Hey, kid."

"Hi," Luke said carefully looking around, "Didn't Leia call me in for a treaty thing?"

Han waved his fingers at the door, "Yeah, they're coming. Mon Mothma thinks we should do this to keep Ambassador Shuley on her toes."

Luke stopped in the middle of the floor, "Shuley?"

Just then, Leia opened the door. The politely peaceful tone in her voice alerted them that the politics had already begun. Han stood up and gave a small bow to Ambassador Shuley when she came in. 

"You remember my husband, Captain Solo," Leia said, shutting the door behind the woman, "my brother, Jedi Skywalker."

Luke bowed to the Ambassador stiffly, seeing Leia's expression in the corner of his eyes. She was thankful he had the chance to change back into his Jedi Uniform for this. 

The stiff faced Ambassador willingly bowed slightly deeper than the others. Her humbleness tainted her pride as she spoke. "As a representative of the Frakkan Administration, I give you my deepest apologies. How is the health of your team?"

They slowly took seats in the sitting area, "We have recovered," Leia said quickly, hurried to get down to business. "You have requested an audience, Ambassador. You have it."

Ambassador Shuley met each of their eyes. Realizing fully how shaky the ground was that she was walking on. "The Empire has pulled out most of their forces from our system to attack you here."

They already knew that, but no one admitted it.

"There is only a Senator and a small garrison left to be the eyes and ears of the Supreme Prophet, but they can be removed easily, as long as the others do not return." She raised her chin a little. "We, therefore, have a deep interest in this upcoming confrontation. We are offering our services to assist any length you require in defending your base."

Leia started to answer, but there was a knock on the door. Winter escorted a hurried Kess in and left again. Kess rubbed her palms on her pants legs, "I came as soon as I could, Minister."

With everyone's back turned to him at the interruption, Luke had to smile at her neat and perfect Jedi Uniform. The ambassador stood again and bowed deeply to Kess. Kess licked her lips uncomfortably bowing back and nervously made her way to the far chair to sit down. 

Leia kept her eye on Shuley, "What kind of services, Ambassador?"

"Every available ship with firepower has been collected into a single fleet, commanded by our best Admiral. They will be arriving in the morning where the Admiral will report in for _your_ orders until dismissed by _your_ government."

Leia rested her elbow on the arm of the couch, "Forgive my boldness, but that is not a very Frakkan-like tactic."

"Apologies." Shuley glanced at her lap subserviently. "The outcome of our treaty mission has left Frakkan in an unprecedented situation." She met Leia's eye, "The situation requires unprecedented tactics."

Her floral wording didn't faze Luke a bit. "Let's start with the beginning instead of the present." He leaned his elbows on his knees and gave her a scolding look. "I'd like to hear the story behind the Usak rights in your treaty request."

Han gave the question a small frown of approval and looked at the halo-head expectantly.

Ambassador Shuley glanced at Kess, sitting quietly opposite of her in the sitting area, and gathered her nerves. "About two years ago, Supreme Prophet Kadaan had a vision that the next Jedi Apprentice would kill him. As a result, he offered freedom to a choice few systems for that who delivered the Apprentice first. 'Usak' was the code word in the communiqués. Frakkan exercised what means we could to identify the Apprentice and win possession through treaty rather than theft."

"You talk about her like she's an object," Luke sneered.

"Not an object, but a pawn. Until she becomes a Jedi, she is powerless to make her own decisions, is she not?"

Kess raised her brow, insulted.

Luke pointed it out matter-of-factly, "She is not powerless, and the right of making her own decisions had never been rescinded."

"But you do guide her," Shuley pointed out.

Luke closed one eye in thought and leaned back on the couch. "What was the description you were given?"

"We were told that the Jedi Apprentice was already practiced with a lightsaber, that she was of the same breed but opposite sex as the Jedi Master, and that she would emerge from the background of the foreground. We translated the phrase to mean, 'from the lower ranks of the front line.' We also widened our search to include anyone practiced with any type of sword. I believe that is how Mugwot Pon identified you."

"Lokey and his dud lightsaber idea," Kess hissed under her breath.

Luke thought about Lokey's desperate attempt and rubbed his chin with his thumb, "Why is Kadaan in such a hurry to get to her all of a sudden?" 

Shuley paused and her lips tightened. "Kadaan's vision insinuated that the Apprentice would murder him about the same time that the apprentice became a Knight, and that the apprentice would become a Knight about the same time that the Jedi Master was mated."

Han's ankle fell to the floor and Leia abruptly closed her mouth. Kess' eyes widened, "_Mated_?!"

Shuley ignored their shock and continued. "Since many of us have little basis to determine the progression of a Jedi's Apprenticeship; his spies and ours have been watching the events of your private life to judge that time scale."

Kess set her palms on the chair and locked her elbows, smiling shyly at her lap. "My evidence says that Kadaan will live forever," she muttered under her breath.

She heard his thoughts with a smiling warning. _Shut up._

Luke's elbow was propped on the armrest and his fingers covered his eyes. After a moment of finding his peace, yet again, he dropped his hand and leaned onto his knees with a deep sigh and little patience left. "So. Your spies have been watching my private life. How?"

Shuley cleared her throat. "I don't know." When Luke's mouth tightened in disbelief, she explained. "After your party left our system, the entire city of Sultani was destroyed by Admiral Cheenan, but his anger was not quenched there. In an effort to prevent more cities from annihilation, Governor Levilot turned over the codes of our Yavin based spies to the Admiral. They had identified Lendra as the Usak somehow, had her planted on your ship for the treaty mission, and were awaiting orders when we turned them over."

Leia tone lowered, "Any information you have on these spies would be helpful."

The Ambassador straightened her posture, "I can have them delivered to you within the hour. Again, I offer out services to pave the way to a treaty between our governments."

Leia stood. "We will give it some thought," she said rigidly.

Realizing the discussion was over, Ambassador Shuley stood and shook Leia's hand.

When the Frakkan Ambassador left the room, Leia turned back to the sitting area. A hush had fallen over them all. Luke was squeezing his eyes shut and Kess was chewing her lip as she stared at her lap. She was trying not to giggle.

The Minister of State smiled a little. "This is, I think, the _weirdest_ reason we have ever gone into battle."

Luke shot out of his chair as Leia was talking. He opened the door and dipped his head out to Leia's assistant, "Winter, I'd like you to send out a scanning crew immediately. Have them check my apartment, Kess' apartment, my speeder, Artoo Deetoo, and _all_ of Pad 14." 

When he closed the door again, Leia was already reminding him, "Luke the scanning crews hit all those places at least once a week."

Luke's lips were firm, "I want them scanned again." He paced the floor a little.

He shoved his hands in his pockets and gave Kess a look of scolding, "Do you have any ideas who may have been watching you since we got back from Frakkan?"

"Besides you?" Kess shook her head with a grin, "No."

Luke gave her an indignant glare. "Did I mention yet that we're having problems with rumors?"

Kess shrugged and waved a hand at Han and Leia, the only other people in the room. She rocked her head, blinked a lot, and chuckled it out. "They figured it out before we did."

Luke tightened his teeth and stood there, fists stuffed his pockets and staring at the table. He felt the tension thicken in the air, Han and Leia both wanting to speak but decidedly keeping their lips zipped.

Luke broke the silence almost casually, "The curiosity I'm feeling on the Force is almost blinding."

Han raised his palm to stop him right there. "We didn't ask," he pointed out.

Luke watched him push himself out of the couch and stroll uncomfortably away. "Han, it's not like you not to ask."

Han turned around and met his eyes with a serious expression, "I know. I'm just." he shrugged, "returning the favor."

A smile crept across Luke's face and he sat back down on the couch, facing Leia. His sister's eyes darted from her husband back to Luke, and she decided not to ask about the favor either.

"We haven't done anything," Kess assured them, just in case they needed it confirmed. 

All three glanced in her directions with varying reactions.

She lifted her brows and dropped her tone, "Much to my chagrin."

Han lifted a brow back at Luke. Leia ducked her chin and grinned. Luke hid his face behind his hands. "Leia, how long have these rumors gone on and why didn't you tell me?"

Leia weaved her fingers together. "They weren't all that bad until the Battle of Rogue Twelve, Luke. Before that, there wasn't much to tell you." As he rubbed his forehead with his fingers, Leia felt obligated to calm his worry. "Luke, _nobody cares_. We all want you to be happy but-."

"But the whole galaxy thinks I'm sleeping with my apprentice." Luke shot out, flapping a hand in his apprentice's direction. 

Kess swallowed hard and kept her mouth shut, hoping that this wasn't going to turn into another lap on the grinder.

Luke continued with a tired whine. "If they didn't care, there wouldn't be rumors, Leia. And I usually don't care about rumors. You know that. But _this_," he waved a hand at the door the Ambassador just left from, "this is _absurd_! We're about to go into battle because the Empire thinks I've found myself a girlfriend!"

Han quipped from across the room, "You _have_ found yourself a girlfriend. It's just that you won't admit it and Kadaan's people can't verify it." 

Luke shot him a glare.

Kess bit her lips to keep from smiling.

Han just shrugged and strolled back over. "Oh, I'm sure you've been a perfect gentleman, kid, but we're probably the only one's that believe you. Relax, her training is almost over and then it won't matter. Right?"

Luke buried his eyes in his hand, "I doubt Kadaan is going to call off the attack if he suddenly hears that she's graduated. Dark Force visions have a tendency to be more detailed than they are accurate. I'll bet that he knows that."

Kess' eyes sobered as she realized the big picture again.

Luke rubbed his eyes with his fingers. "It's just seems a little strange that he would prophesize his death and my sex life in the same vision." He smirked tiredly into his hand. "Especially since I have problems just _imagining_ either one."


	6. Chapter 28

**Chapter 28**

Luke was still distraught with all the news during his long walk to Pad 14. The warmth of spring brightened the colors on the street but the smell of fear wafted through the air. Every pad was hustling to get ready for a battle they weren't even sure was going happen. Seeing her smiling face again became a hope to help brighten his day, but the hope was crushed at the sight of Kess' empty desk. 

Neilson glanced up from his datawork. "The transfer came through about three days ago. Kess has already turned over her codes and files and reported back to Pad 9. Wedge is in the muster room interviewing a replacement now."

Luke shifted his weight to the other foot and reminded himself that Jedi Knights don't make it a habit to feel sorry for themselves. It was already Friday afternoon, he hadn't been here, and he had to get ready for the reception anyway. Now that Kess wasn't here either, he really couldn't think of a reason not to take the afternoon off, but he wouldn't leave without first checking in with Wedge, so he went to the muster room.

Wedge was already shaking hands of good-bye with a porcelain-faced woman. Cropped chestnut hair perfectly framed a face of pink cheeks and spotless coveralls curved around an hourglass figure. Luke strolled up to the two, sensing exactly why Wedge was interviewing this particular person, and let the wingman lead a boisterous set of introductions. Valina was her name. She shook Luke's hand with a whimsy touch and, though she seemed optimistic and intelligent enough, did not seem to have the kind of spunk required to take on the rambunctious Rogue Group. Valina bid her good-bye's them and hurried back to her current position in Equipment Supply.

"Well?" Wedge held out his hands with a smile. "Whaddya think?"

Luke raised an eyebrow at him, "I think that you're thinking with wrong hemisphere, Wedge."

Wedge pulled his jacket off the back of the chair, "Oh, right. And you're not?"

Luke wrinkled his nose. "Excuse me?"

The young pilot slapped him on the shoulder as he passed him by, "C'mon Luke, we've know each other for years." He strolled out towards the open door. "How _was_ your trip, anyway?"

Luke followed him slowly, "Not as good as everyone apparently seems to think."

Wedge paused in the motion of straightening his collar, and gave Luke a crooked grin. "Well, then, how good was it?"

Luke sighed out of an open mouth, squinting in disbelief at Wedge. . . at _everyone_ that had made such insinuations over the past five hours. Why did his love life suddenly become everyone's favorite topic? Nothing else he did seemed to go unnoticed. Why couldn't they at least leave this subject alone? Luke frowned and shrugged. "Just like any other trip, except a little quieter. The only one that did try to kill me changed his mind."

Wedge chuckled at him and resumed his stroll out to the pad. "I don't want to know."

Luke glared at his back caustically, _That's not impression I got. _

Luke caught up to Wedge and asked if he was needed for the rest the day. He decided not to tell Wedge about his resignation until Monday, only because he didn't want to have to explain his reasons to a person who apparently wouldn't believe him anyway. After a short conversation about Rogue Group's present status, Luke turned away, roughly combed his fingers through his hair and hurried out of the complex to get ready for the reception. 

**  **  **  **  **  **  **

As Kess approached her door, she realized that she hadn't seen the girlies since the night she came storming home ready to quit Jedi Training. She strutted into her barracks suite with a smile on her face but her 'hey girly girl' was more reserved that Yana's, and Joanne popped out of her bedroom with an even brighter twinkle in her eye. Kess was ready for the questions so she plopped down on the couch and crossed her ankles on the drink table.

"So?" Yana yanked brown curls from her bun, "Let's hear it."

Joanne sat down next to Kess' feet. "You leave calling him names I've never heard of and you come back with a guilty grin. My guess is you finally kissed and made up."

Kess knew it wouldn't fly, but folded her arms and assured them as wisely as she could. "We made up, but not in the way you're imagining." Her tone lowered. "And if you guys keep this up I'm never going to graduate. You're supposed to be keeping your mouths shut."

Yana started pulling away the buttons of her uniform and stepped around the couch to face her, "We _have_ been. We're _hearing_ it all, Kess. We've been getting more info from the grapevine than from you."

Kess sighed at her. "Look, I'm under orders okay. Just like you are about what you hear in the CIC bunker. Not much has gone on between us, certainly not as much as the rumors say. And half of it you guys wouldn't understand anyway but I promise I'll tell you everything as soon as I can."

Yana sat down on the table on the other side of Kess' feet and looked her in the eye. "Look Kess, if you're cool then we're cool, whether you tell us what's up or not. It's just that you came storming in raving mad at him that night, went into battle and a coma the next day, and then he dragged you off to hell knows where for two weeks without a word. We were worried."

Kess forced a weak smile, "I'm sorry. Believe me, I wish I could tell you everything. I really do. But everything is okay now."

Joanne patted her knee. "Good, but enough with the mush. We've got to get moving."

Kess didn't wonder why her roommates were so hurried to get ready for a Friday night. The three buzzed around the apartment with three separate agendas until Kess noticed that, aside from simply changing into their civilian clothes, they weren't getting themselves ready at all. Before she could ask, Kaila came through the door with dry cleaning in her hand. Kess stopped in the middle of the room.

Kaila swaggered up to her with a devious smile and hung the dress on the coat closet door. She straightened the wrinkles from the clear plastic cover and asked casually, "Well? How do you like it?"

Kess stepped cautiously over and looked the dress up and down. The velvet green fabric was clean and smooth from the low neckline to the skirt. "It's very pretty," Kess said carefully and glanced at Kaila, "What's the occasion?"

Kaila's eyes shifted nervously, "The uh, Minister of State Reception." 

Yana shook her head at the woman and shrugged, _We don't know yet._

Kess was still looking at swatch of fabric on the hanger, innocently suspicious. "Really? Who are you going with?" She looked up to Kaila who was still sending a disappointed glare at the roommates and then turned around to see all the guilty faces, to see the makeup Joanne had collected and the hair fixings in Yana's arms, and Kess was convinced that this was all an Imperial plot against her. She folded her arms at her chest, stepped slowly forward, clearly irritated about it. "How did you girlies know I was going?"

Joanne swallowed hard and Yana rubbed her eyes. "We didn't," Kaila admitted. "Minister Organa Solo asked us to get an outfit for you in case you were invited. She didn't think you would have time because she didn't know when you'd be back from your trip."

Kess buried her face in her hands again.

"She gave us the measurements from your Jedi Uniform, told us Luke's favorite color was green, and we took it from there."

Kess sighed and looked at the dress again. The rumors may have been a curse, but their friends were surely trying to help the Jedi down the road of getting close. It seemed that nobody cared how much the training was in the way. As long as Luke and Kess lived happily ever after, it didn't seem to bother anybody if she never got that blasted pin.

Regardless of the politics, their efforts were thoughtful, caring and sweet. Kess smiled weakly, glanced at the time and started pulling the braids from her hair. "Well, I guess I'd better jump in the shower."

Smiles flashed across the women's faces and they paused for a single beat of glee before rushing into an adolescent excitement. They fawned over her like bridesmaids at a wedding until she was fully dressed and done up like a Barbie doll. She sneered a little when she looked in the full-length mirror. She looked like she was ready for prom night. But the girlies didn't stop there. They continued to get themselves ready for their own party. Apparently the gang was off to a dance club. Joanne's date would be meeting them there, Yana was still on the hunt, and Kaila was arrogantly excited about taking advantage of Rett again. They were clearly going to have fun.

But not Kess. Kess was off in a stuffy outfit to hobnob with stuffy politicians she didn't care to meet, and hang out with Luke all night, stuffing the words back down into her lovesick stomach. Kess sighed heavily and found her peace, wishing she was just plain old repair grunt with a girly gang of best friends to tear down the town with on a Friday night.

The doorbell buzzed and Kaila jumped out of Kess' bedroom to answer it. When the door slid aside, Luke casually strolled in and gave Kaila a subdued hello. He smiled shyly at her and his voice was more than quiet for the following small talk. 

Kaila looked him up and down and complimented his fine suit, pressed to perfection. The charcoal-gray slacks and waist-cut jacket had maroon pin strips down the sides, making it look almost like a fancy military uniform, but the only signs of rank were his silver Jedi pin on his collar and the lightsaber, as always, at his hip. His shoes were shined, his shoulders were straight, and his hair was cut. Kaila silently thanked the Maker that they actually got Kess into that dress. She would have looked wildly out of place if she had worn her uniform like she was planning.

Joanne and Yana hopped out before their work of art did. Luke turned with the rest of them to watch Kess stepping out like she was trying to balance on a thin wire.

Luke's knees went weak.

The bodice clung to her torso like spandex to a wide V hanging across the curves of her shoulders, and the skirt just barely fanned out from her legs. Joanne had convinced her hair to fall in soft golden curls down her back, tied with a crumpled bow behind her neck, and Yana had accented the glow of her cheeks and eyes with clean makeup. 

"I hate these shoes," she muttered, hovering her hands out to her sides with a smile, half keeping her balance and half just afraid to touch the dress.

Luke faced Kess with his hands stuffed in his pockets and forced a polite smile over the farm boy shyness in his eyes. He looked her up and down and tried to say it lightly, "I'm impressed."

That's not what she wished he would say, but it would do for a compliment, so she thanked him quietly. She slowly got the hang of the shoes on her way to him and stopped with a shy grin, raising an eyebrow at his own ritzy attire. For a moment, they stared at each other in flattering surprise until Kess reeled in the butterflies from her stomach and spoke very business like. "Do I need to bring my ID or credit chip or anything?"

Luke swallowed his nerves and shrugged, "You're lightsaber might be appropriate."

Joanne, Yana and Kaila laughed with pride at their invention as Kess started hiking up the skirt from her right leg until the lower half of the homemade, leather and lace, garter-like holster came into view on her thigh. The silken petticoat had a slot cut out of it, perfectly fitting, and hiding, the hilt underneath. 

Luke simply closed his eyes, long before the skirt got too far, and shook his head. "I shouldn't have asked."

Kess toned deepened. "It was the only way they could con me into a petticoat." She smiled at him and stepped to his side, hooking her arm around his elbow. Luke peered at her again and rubbed his lips together. Reluctantly, he gave her his arm like being a gentleman was a difficult task.

"We won't wait up." Kaila sang.

"Don't bother," Luke assured and led Kess out the door. He held his arm out to the side in a weak attempt to keep her body from bumping into his by accident and dropped it as soon as the elevator doors closed. 

Her giddiness was muted by his discomfort, so she opened the conversation carefully. "How was your day?"

Luke clasped his hands behind his back and stared at the door instead of her. "Long," he grunted.

Kess chewed her tongue. Obviously the warmth between them had only slipped away because reality had returned, but it didn't mean he had to be rude. "Are you going to be this pleasant all evening?"

 "I'm sorry," he mumbled. "It's just that the military strategy meeting was a bit rough." He told her a little about it, but didn't have the time or the desire to go into great detail. She got the clearance, he got the data, and they would go to the CIC bunker in the morning to make their own assumptions about Kadaan's intentions. 

Kess took the information more casually than she should have. "Whatever you say."

He let out a tested sigh. Kesselia's lack of concern for such matters was becoming a bit of pet peeve with him. "And there's a death mark on your head."

She glanced at him, "How much?"

"Fifty alive and twenty dead."

"Only fifty credits?"

"Fifty _thousand_ credits."

"Oh."

The silence in the elevator fell like a rock until Kess' innocently curious voice rang out, "If I turn myself in, do I get to keep the money?"

Luke squinted at her like she'd lost her marbles. The doors opened and he walked out to the hallway rubbing his temple. Kess gritted her teeth. She met his stride, came within arms reach as they left the building, and promptly slapped him on the elbow. "It was a joke."

Polished shoes came to a halt on the sidewalk and the streetlights reflected in his icy blue eyes. He huffed like he was going to snap at her, but as soon as he focused on her again. His broad shoulders drooped under the stiff jacket. Luke closed his eyes and collected his patience.

Kess stopped in front of him, her face stiff with annoyance, and folded her arms over the green velvet.

A smile grew on his sad face. He couldn't help it. His eyes darted from her eyes to her cheeks to her neckline to her dress. He sensed her confidence and the scent of her perfume, watched the cool breeze in her hair and the felt the warm body at his side. He closed his eyes and breathed out a soft whine, "This isn't fair." 

Kess dropped her face to smile in sudden understanding. "Almost makes you wish we'd done something to feel guilty about."

He took her hand and escorted her the rest of the way to his speeder. "Yeah." He smiled and tried to ignore the sound of her clean laughter. When he opened the door for her, her giggle calmed enough to tease him about it. "I guess you are a gentleman after all." She sat down in the passengers seat.

A few seconds and Luke was in the driver's seat with an equivalent twinkle in his eye. "Uncle Owen taught me a few things about being a gentleman." He assured her as the speeder purred to life. "That was just the only part I remember."

**  **  **  **  **  **  **

The press was out in full array and the guards in combat armor, but the crowd outside the building willingly hung back, content to get pictures but not comments from the guests as they embarked up the long wide stairway. (The true politicians actually hunted the press down instead.) Lights glowed up the facade of the Grand Cathedral, showing off the intricate detail of the stonework and the giant red and white Alliance flag hanging above the tall doors. Kess would have thought it was Victory Day if she didn't know any better. 

Luke handed the tempchip to the valet droid as another droid graciously helped Kess out of the speeder. Luke offered his arm, but then held it out to the side far enough so the press could the air between them from every direction. He led the way up the steps, eventually dropping her arm entirely and let her ascend to the doors ahead of him.

Kess inhaled to huff at him, but was suddenly in a giant room with a gathering of the multi-cultural wealthy. Another flag hung in the center of the far wall inside, reaching only halfway up the vaulted ceiling and still over thirty feet above the stage. A long set of tables, filled with mounds of fancy nibbles, followed the left wall. Officeholders of all flavors gathered in stuffy discourse. Each stiffened uniform carried enough brass to build an X-wing with. Governors, Generals, Counselors, Admirals, and just as many 'escorts', milled about the giant floor of large circular dining tables and one nearly empty dance floor.

Kess gulped.

Luke grinned at her, stuffed his hands casually in his pockets and strolled down into the crowd. She clasped her hands behind her back and followed him. Her eyes shifted around the room, recognizing many from the info channel and avoiding eye contact with everybody. She flanked Luke all the way to the back where he proudly approached Lando and shook the man's hand. 

"My, my, don't you look beautiful." Lando charm oozed out to Kess. "What Jedi trick did he pull out to get you to dress up like this?" He grinned evilly at Luke. "I want to learn it."

Kess was glad to see the pirate and gave him a peck on the cheek. After only a week of working with him on the Frakkan System and the distraught trip home, she'd gotten to know him just enough to know that she liked him. "He has a devious sister, actually," she answered the man's question. When Luke's eyebrow shot up, she explained to both of them, "She had the dress made for me while we were gone, and apparently made Luke get a haircut. I guess the Jedi aren't aloud to look shabby on occasions like this."

Lando chuckled at the two of them. For a few minutes, he and Kess actually talked like old war buddies, which, for some reason, seemed to make Luke a little nervous. 

The Jedi Knight took a small step forward and curled his arm around the front of hers until she was suddenly being escorted again. She stopped mid-sentence and looked up at him, but Luke ignored her glare. "So, Lando, did you come alone?"

Lando suddenly laughed at him again and shook his head. "As a matter of fact, no. My date has run off to the food table actually." He turned in that direction as if he suddenly realized how long his date had been gone.

While the man was turned away, Luke pulled Kess away, calling behind him, "We're going to find our table."

Kess wrinkled her forehead at Luke. "What was that all about?"

He patted her hand on his forearm, "Preventive maintenance."

They sat at a table near the stage, were served wine and talked quietly as the hundreds of guests arrived. Captain Solo showed up in short order, grumbling as usual, and Chewie's fur was brushed. Threepio was running back and forth relaying messages and tending to hosting problems and Artoo stopped by to whistle hello to the gang but was off again. The room was gradually filled and the table of food was quickly picked away. Stale, melancholy conversation drifted from ships to politics and somewhere along the line, Leia appeared with a flustered sigh. 

The expression only lasted as long as her back was turned to the crowded room and she smiled lovingly at Han's sarcastic comments of affection when she turned back around again. Lando returned in short order with a date on his arm that turned out to be a very young pilot from Purple Group. 

Kess sat in the chair, sipping pure water and nibbling appetizers while she waited for something interesting to happen. Luke chatted with her from time to time, but none of the topics were profound, and they all were interrupted every time some brass-covered uniform stopped by to greet, congratulate, or comment to someone at the table.

The presentation was long, dry and a politically-correct welcoming of Counselor Leia Organa Solo to the position of Minister of State of the New Alliance. The speeches were concluded with applause and then the hobnobbing began. Luke ushered her around to introduce her to Ambassador This and Governor That, often leaving her alone for several minutes of Jedi related questions and dusty old jokes. 

After two hours of politely steering away queries about her training and her future plans in Luke's Guild and Academy, Kess finally gave up the facade when a politically correct bigot asked her how 'the little Jedi girl's' trip went. Kess gave the man a tight smile and told him her trip was fine, but she managed to take her leave of him proceeded to look for Luke, ready to bite his head off for leaving her alone again in this social obligatory jungle. 

She weaved through the crowd where his casual conversation with Admiral Talika drifted to a close as she approached. Luke smiled and gave her a quiet hello and Kess threw him a biting glance that she couldn't scold him in the present company. 

Admiral Talika, the big man in charge of Complex A, and therefore, Pad 9 Gold Group, raised his drink to her. "I finally get to meet the victim apprentice." He introduced himself, even though he knew he didn't have to, and shook her hand warmly. "I'm glad we finally got you out of that maverick squadron and back working with the real heroes where you belong."

Kess bowed her head in agreement, "And a maverick squadron it is, Admiral."

Luke eyed the wine as he swirled it in his glass. "You guys just met and you're already ganging up on me."

Talika chuckled at him, "Awe, you're just sour that you lost her." Talika began a friendly conversation with Kess about the new ground plan and eventually invited her to discuss in depth some of the approaches she used to get Rogue Group back in the air. Though Kess insisted that what she had done was not all that fantastic, the Admiral seemed to think that her experience, combined with her bag of Jedi tricks, could help him out in getting all of his Complex A back in the air that much faster.

When Luke and Kess finally stepped away from the conversation, she blew up at her bangs and Luke teased her, "You better watch it or you might make Lieutenant Commander or something."

Kess muttered sourly, "I guess fading into the ranks is now out of the question, isn't it?"

"Completely," Luke agreed. "You've already become a familiar face in the Council Building."

She chewed on her tongue a little, "Only if your there."

Luke shook his head. "Not true."

They stopped strolling and looked around a little. Kess asked a long contemplated question, "Why don't you have an office in the Council Building?"

He shrugged, "Never really needed one. All the other officers vote not to be my roommate if it can be helped, so I've always had the second room as an office." He raised his drink to his lips. "Would be a waste of space otherwise."

"Wouldn't it be easier if all your precious political documents were in the Council Building already when you needed them? You wouldn't have to borrow Leia's library for private conversations. You could even have an assistant to manage your affairs."

He licked a drop of wine from his lower lips, "I wasn't aware I was having an affair."

Kess blinked.

Luke smiled, "One, love. You're serve."

Kess laughed at him, and when her laughter quieted, she smiled warmly at him.

His grin widened as he stepped up to her and ushered her to walk with him again. After a few nervous steps in no particular direction, he blurted it out. "Will you dance with me?"

Her eyes went to him.

He shrugged lightly, "You are my date, after all."

Kess took his arm and grinned, "Escort," she corrected, "I don't plan to behave myself on the date."

Luke had to quell a wicked twinkle into a placid smirk by the time he faced her. He took her hand, took her waist, and stared deep into brown eyes as they began to move to the comforting music.

Han sat alone at the table, glancing out at the dance floor from time to time, and ran a single finger around the rim of his glass in deep thought. Han Solo was no idiot. He saw exactly how they were looking at each other, even though their bodies might as well have been two miles apart. Luke practically was handling her as though she were somebody else's wife. But the kid was in love with her, that much was obvious. Han felt that his worry was reasonable until he considered that, if Kess was trying something on the shady side, Luke would have detected it with the Force long before Han found enough clues to present an argument. 

Han leaned his elbows on the table, glancing to them and staring at his glass again. 

"They seem to have recovered from their disagreement."

Han glanced up to see Mon Mothma's straightened back and proud chin standing behind him and looking out to the dance floor as well. 

Leia sat down in the chair next to her husband. "Yes," she agreed carefully, "seems that way."

The trio watched in silence until the dance ended a few seconds later. Luke's eyes were sparkling at her when they strolled off the stage. They muttered to each other, giggled a little, and muttered some more as they made their way to the food table. 

Kess picked up a hors d'oeuvre and said something just before she stuffed it in her mouth. Luke threw his head back and laughed.

Leia rubbed her lips together uncomfortably. They were behaving themselves like anybody should, but they were having way too much fun to pass as a pair of just serene Jedi Knight friends. Han and Leia simultaneously glanced up to see Mon Mothma's reaction.

Mon Mothma grinned quietly and turned away to other matters.

The guests were slowly filtering back out the door, but almost a hundred people were still wrapped up in conversations throughout the room. At their table near the stage, Lando was telling the war story tale of the "Frakkan Escape" to Luke and Leia. Han was chuckling tiredly at the memories and Kess was hiding her eyes.

"So then she yells, 'There's a big fish out here!' and then falls into the compartment with gallons of water. Han looks at her and says, 'Of course there's a fish out there, it's an ocean."

"Well, it _was_ big fish," Kess defended. "It had these huge teeth. I've got one of them at home if you want to see."

Leia picked through the half empty plate of snacks and squinting at her, "How did you get a hold of one of its teeth?"

"It tried to take a bite out of the ship. The autofoam kicked in and trapped it and it came with us into hyperspace. I had to pull its teeth out of the Falcon's hull when we got back."

Leia popped a deviled egg into her mouth, "Interesting trophy."

Luke had little experience with different species of fish, but no fish he ever heard of was large enough to take a bite out of a Corellian frigate. He snarled curiously at her, "How big was this fish?"

"Well, it was-" Kess stopped short, staring into the air, then she looked at Luke. "Did you hear that?"

The expression fell from Luke's face, "Hear what?"

_hungry_

"There it was again," she said. It wasn't a word, but a simple, single thought, with a weak, tiny voice on the Force. 

All the conversation stopped. Everyone at the table waited to find out what the Jedi were sensing and listened as well, just in case. 

Luke squinted and sensed around. _Was it a bug?_ He thought, _Fascinating concept: a Force sensitive cockroach._ He snarled and looked under the table, finding nothing, and looked around the room again.

Kess looked to he other members of their party: Lando was sipping his wine, Chewie was fading off to sleep, Han was watching them with a raised eyebrow. . .  and Leia was eating. The weary Minister of State was picking out what edible hors d'oeuvre were left on Han's plate.

_hungry_

Kess caught her breath and closed one shy eye at Leia. The woman's eating paused, "What's the matter?"

Luke's eyes shot to Leia, to Kess, and darted back to Leia again.

hungry

hungry

The voice wasn't even a voice, it was the thought behind it. And there were two of them. Blue eyes sensed out to Leia's belly and then smiled as he lowered his gaze to the table.

Han was now, _very_ impatient, "What?!"

_"Tell 'em." _Kess thought to Luke.

_"I'm not telling 'em. You tell 'em."_

Kess wrinkled her nose at him, _"She's your sister."_

_"But you're a female."_

Leia asked nervously, "Luke, what?"

Luke gulped and put on a serious face, "Leia, can I speak with you for a moment?"

Leia threw her napkin on the table, Han got up as well, not willing to be left out of it since it obviously had to do with his wife. The three stepped towards the next empty table, where Leia finally turned to Luke insistently. 

Luke clasped his hands behind his back, raised his chin and spoke with a smile.

Kess watched in reserved delight as Han and Leia found out that they were pregnant with twins.

Neither Han nor Leia blinked for a full five seconds. Leia slowly lowered to sit in the chair directly behind her, and finally turned to stare wide eyed at the table. Han slid into the chair next to her, complete dumbfounded with his own classic expression.

Luke swiveled on his heals with a tight grin and went directly to Kess. "I think it's time to go."

Lando took the cue. He toasted, drank, and helped his date out of the chair. "I'll ask later."

In a rush, they stood and moved to leave. As Luke pulled Kess past the table, he shook Chewie's shoulder, "Wake up, Chewie. It's time to go home."

Chewie curled his lips and growled softly, but when his eyes focused on the scene he squinted as hard as a Wookiee could.

Han and Leia were looking at each other breathlessly. Han raised an eyebrow and flash a cockeyed grin of arrogance. Leia put her elbows on the table and buried her face in her hands with a grunting sigh.

**  **  **  **  **  **  **

The barracks hallway was hushed with midnight until the elevator doors opened, then laughter poured out into the silence. Kess hung on his arm and giggled, "And then we could stand in the background using the Force to move the peas away from his fork while he was trying to eat."

Luke could see the look on Han's face if they did pull such a practical joke on him. He squeezed his eyes shut and tried to keep the volume of his laughter down as to not wake anybody up. His laughter calmed when they reached Kess' suite, and the butterflies swarmed through his stomach when she opened the door.

Thankfully, she let go of his arm then, stepped in the dark apartment for two curious steps and sensed that nobody was home. "I guess they really didn't wait up," she said turning to him. "They're probably all passed out on some street corner somewhere."

Luke stopped at her doorway and clasped his hands tightly behind his back. 

She met his eyes for a moment and weaved her fingers together in front of her skirt. "I had a good time," she said timidly. 

He dropped his shoulder against the door jam and smiled at the floor. "Me too," he whispered.

Kess' voice rose a little, trying to keep the discomfort at bay, or at least unnoticeable. "It's going to be interesting to see how you plan to top it for our real date."

Luke's eyes darted away and back again and then he rubbed his grinning lips together. "I've got a few ideas," he said guiltily. "Any special requests?" As soon as he said it he wanted to yank the words out of the air, afraid of a boldly risqué response.

Kess thought for a moment and admitted it, "Alone. . . would be nice."

Blue eyes glowed at her and his temple fell helplessly against the door. He wrung his hands behind his back. The light of his Force was blushing into the room that his feet wouldn't dare to tread. The door jam became the wall that kept his shoulder from drifting into the sanctity of her apartment. The air grew loud and the light glowing from the kitchenette seemed to dim a little.

A smile grew slowly across her face. "I wish you could stay, too," she whispered.

Luke swallowed hard. He looked longingly at her for a full minute without moving. He remembered every detail about her face, the curves of her dress. He recorded the way brown eyes sparkled and the way her Force was blushing an amorous pink right back at him. "You are beautiful, " he said distantly, but sighed away the feeling and cleared his throat, "and I do wish I could stay." But he stood up straight and took a step backwards into the hall. "Good night, Kesselia."

She raised eyebrows pained with reality and gave him a small wave. "See you in the morning." She watched him take one last look at her and turn away. He pressed his lips together and disappeared down the hall.


	7. Chapter 29

**Chapter 29**

**Saturday**

The CIC bunker was disturbingly quiet and dark on Saturday morning. A cheap version of a data droid sat at a terminal in the corner of the room, its lighted eyes affixed to the screen of ones and zeros in front of him. The rest of the bunker was empty, most of the monitors turned off, the desk lamps turned down. The mainframes shined pinpoints of light on standby until Luke started switching the equipment back on.

Kess watched the glass stat boards glow, the holomap blink on, and listened to the hard drives wind up. But the room still seemed too small and short several levels under the ground floor of the Council Building. Kess wondered what side of the Force claustrophobia was on.

Luke stepped to her and folded his arms, leaning his hip against the humming base of the holomap. "So where would you like to start?"

Kess looked at the fourteen datacards in her hand and chewed on her lower lip. "Well, where _you_ like to start?"

"No, no." He grinned a little. "_You_ are flying this ship. Prove to me you can make sense out of it all."

Kess swallowed dryly and sifted through the cards, checking their labels. "All right." She found three and offered them to him. "Let's look at the maps first."

Luke reached to take them but-

"No, wait," she pulled them away again. Calculations could be seen through her eyes. She stared in the air a moment and suddenly went a chair, setting the pile down in front of her. Luke curiously watched her go through the stack one by one. She separated the information into three categories: movement, politics, and everything else. Once she was satisfied, she picked out the same three datacards and shot out of the chair. "The maps." she said.

Luke's gaze stayed on her for a moment, waiting to see if she'd change her mind again and turned to the holomap to plug in the cards. Primary colors of light flicked on until the entire sector including Yavin's solar system and beyond was represented by tiny geometric figures.

She took control of the study almost automatically, barely noticing that Luke wasn't pointing out the small details, and she wasn't seeing his proud smirks when she did find the small details on her own. She studied the maps only to get a general idea of where the Empire had suddenly moved their troops to, and without trying to guess Kadaan's plan before she saw all the information, she turned to the intercepted messages and readings from the satellites.

Luke watched her expressions in silence as she went through each communiqué and transcribed written data onto the map. When she spoke, it was almost always her just thinking out loud, only meeting his eyes for a quick question about his common knowledge. When she read the mail messages to the Yavin-based spy, she didn't stop short and she didn't gasp. She just logically took the information in and tried to fit it with the rest of the data she'd already sorted out.

**TO: Father00254-QWRT @.CKKSKT.NET**

**FR: Shori Ka56489-TERM @PUBLIC.NET**

**RE:**

**I apologize for our failure at the last party, Father. As always in such a case, an element occurred that we could not possibly have planned ahead for. I beg of your forgiveness and the opportunity to give it another try.**

**My position here is secluded and secured. I have ample opportunity to colour the sky blue and I am anxious to return home. Awaiting your approval.**

**Shori**

**TO:Son56489-WATC @PUBLIC.NET**

**FR: Father00254-SPKJ @LOCKET.NET**

**RE:**

**Bring me Kess Lendra alive and then we can discuss your pardon.**

"At least they want me alive." She said brightly, but then her mouth twisted to the side. "I don't understand this other message though. It certainly sounds peculiar, but why was it picked out of thousands of mail messages as a possible clue?"

Luke suddenly remembered that he hadn't told her about the first intercepted message. He straddled the seat next to her and began to pull it from the archives. "There was a message intercepted about two months ago to Mugwot Pon. But at the time, we didn't know who it was or what they were after."

Kess peered at the screen when the message flipped up and read it. "Activate Mynock only. Keep blue secured. Awaiting signal." She thought for a second. "Mynock was the name of the plan for Lokey to get me out by air. Blue is the code name for another plan. Shori Ka is the code name for the other spy." 

She looked back at the first message and glanced over it. "Now that Lokey's dead, this Shori Ka is begging Kadaan to let him give it another shot so Kadaan will forgive him instead of kill him and Kadaan agrees as long as he gets me out alive."

Luke focused on her in the dim lighting. "So who is Shori Ka?"

Kess blinked at the terminal screen, draped her elbows on the armrest, "Well he's a native Frakkan."

Luke squinted curiously, "How can you tell?"

Kess pointed at the screen, "Well, look at how it's worded, you can almost hear the accent." She faked a proper accent, "'I apologize for our failure at the last party, Father.' And here, typical Frakkan spelling, c-o-l-o-u-r."

Luke frowned in approval, "So, you know any Frakkan's?" 

Kess shook her head, "No. But then, Frakkan's are just as human as we are. . ." she shrugged and shook her head. Flipping through the faces of acquaintances in her mind. She didn't know whom she couldn't trust. "I don't know. . ." Suddenly she looked at him. "Would it be the same spy who's been watching your private life?"

He rested his chin in his fist, "It seems so, but not necessarily."

She raised her brow, "So who are the common denominators between my training and your private life."

Luke leaned back in the chair and folded his arms at his chest. "You." When she looked at him, his grin washed away. "You are the sum total of my private life. Any connection you may find would be superficial."

"What is the contact medium Shuley gave us?"

"A general mail address."

Kess bit her lower lip in thought. An idea began to brew and she continued her studies with a new fire. The hours slugged along until the data on every card had been scoured several times. Luke made his own observations but kept his opinions to himself. He watched her rearrange the symbols of the holomap for different vectors and remove general sets of data that seemed irrelevant to the situation.

It was early afternoon by the time she narrowed in and confirmed her own hypothesis. As though she finished studying a text book and was ready for the test, she turned around, leaned her butt against the base of the holomap, and folded her arms at her chest. "They're going to attack."

Luke leaned his back against the opposite mainframe and folded his arms as well, "When?"

"Two days," she said. "The last satellite report is four hours old and the nearest battle group is two and a half days away." She thought for a second and continued. "The farthest battle group that has moved out of routine is three days away. So if they want to get all the toys in the attic for the party, they'll attack on. . . Tuesday."

"Okay. . ." Luke said, confirming her theory and urging her to continue.

"They are waiting for all of our flagships to hit hyperspace after the reception so we'll be as naked as possible when they attack. It's no secret our Yavin based fleet has been grounded and I'm not sure other Repair Supervisors are making the same precautions I did when I only disabled three at a time."

Luke slowly inhaled, and quickly raised an eyebrow, "So..."

Kess shrugged, "So we _are_ naked. Most of the flagships are heading out this weekend so everyone can make it home by Victory Day. And nobody is out there on the Pads getting the squadrons ready for a fire fight."

Luke stood up straight and patted her shoulder. "We're not naked," he assured. "Admiral Ackbar ordered every pad not to disable more than three craft at a time and no craft for more than three hours at a time. And Mon Mothma is letting the flagships leave on schedule to make it look like we don't know anything, but they're not going home. They're all orbiting around Yavin 8 until we have a plan."

Kess blew out a breath, "Okay, so we can put up a fight when they attack, but why don't we just head them off at the pass."

Luke wrinkled his forehead, "Because they're coming from three different directions. We can't afford to split up our fleet like that."

She shook her head, "No, I don't buy that. They can't risk not coming out of hyperspace at precisely the same time. From that distance, they couldn't coordinate a hyperspace jump closer than ten or twenty minutes, which could be fatal in a battle like this. They may come from three different directions, but they'll rendezvous outside the system and then come straight for the base."

Luke nodded, "Sure, but from which direction? By the time they come out of hyperspace, they've already got a step ahead of us. They'll be in our atmosphere before we get our fleet off the ground."

Kess winced hard and dug both sets of fingers into her bangs. 

Luke continued, "Most of the suggestions from the military council are based on fortifying our position and just waiting for them to get here. It's not comfortable, but it is the surest way to protect the base. Unless Kadaan pulls in more firepower than we're expecting, we should be able to put up a good fight."

Kess had strolled away in thought as he spoke, digging deep into her wits to see a plan no else had thought of yet. She really didn't like the idea of just sitting here and waiting for them. Suddenly, her back straightened and she swiveled to him on her heals. "What if we could find out which direction they were coming from?"

Luke dropped his back against the mainframe again and willingly entertained her idea, "Then we would head them off at the pass, going into battle light-years from the planet and therefore saving the lives of the Council and ground crews." He rubbed his lips together. "But how would we do it?"

Kess looked at him out of the corner of her eye, "We get somebody on the inside."

He gave her a cockeyed grin, "It's too late to get any spies in there. They're already on their way."

"Not a spy," she squared her shoulders at him. 

Luke suddenly recognized the look in her eye and his chest heaved for air.

Kess interrupted his flat out 'no' before he even said it. "They want me alive. Kadaan hadn't done anything weird until I started training and now he's completely freaking out because I'm so close to graduating. That's why he's attacking now. As soon as you and I left for an incognito training trip, he started moving his chess pieces around. The chance to plaster Yavin base is almost like a secondary objective."

"I think you're putting more value on your life than they are."

Kess waved her hands in the air to stop his speech. "That's not the point. The point is, Kadaan wants me alive. And because he wants me alive, I could get in there alive and send out a signal telling the Alliance right where they are."

Luke's jaw hardened. "They'd immediately find the transmitter on you and then they'd kill you."

Kess' mouth tightened, her eyes darting around in the air for more ideas.

He stuffed his fists into his pockets, forcing his voice to sound like he was letting her down easy, "And there's no way you can get in there without them suspecting something anyway."

Hardened brown eyes drilled into him. "Shori Ka. He could get me in there. I could kidnap the kidnapper, have the Imperials think I'm being turned in. And then when I got there, instead of an on line transmitter or a homing device, just have a pulse generator. All I'd have to do is press a button and you guys would know right where I am. You could send the fleet out long before the Imperials realized what I did."

Luke's voice was low and firm, "If we send the fleet out to attack an Imperial battle group, from which you have transmitted from, our fleet is going to attack the very same Star Destroyer _you will be on_." He sang almost evilly, "And I guarantee you, Kesselia, you will be in no position to get out on an escape pod. I've been in their detentions blocks. I know how secure they are."

Kess folded her arms at her chest and whispered huskily, "Why are you so against this?"

Luke stood up straight, dropping his arms, "I'm not in the habit of just turning people over to improve the odds of some battle and I'm sure as hell not going to start now."

She wiggled tense fingers in the air. "We would save the lives of the entire Council and ground crew and the civilian families." She watched him step away and waved a hand at his back, "You could consider it a part of my training. The Jedi Apprentice finally goes against the bad guy."

Luke turned to her, raised his chin and brought it back down with a rather loud and very final, "No!"

Kess blinked. But her mouth stiffened again. She crossed her arms at him, facing him down across the open floor of the CIC bunker and said quietly, "You would do it."

Luke let a stiff breath out of his nose and stormed to the terminal desk where they had been working, "That doesn't matter." He roughly began picking up the scattered cards and ripping others from the holomap drives. 

Kess carefully stepped over and tightened her arms across her chest. She walked up to his side and stared at him expectantly. He knew he would do it, and it _did_ matter.

But Luke wouldn't look at her, "Look, um," he rubbed his palm over his face, "it's been a long day. Take this stuff and see what else you can come up with. We can talk about it again tomorrow." He held out a handful of cards in the air to her.

After a stiff moment, Kess reached out to take them, but certainly wasn't pleased about this outcome.

Luke met her eyes and sighed. "You did great today. You really did. And you're idea. . . has merit. It's bold, it's brave, and I'm sorry but it's kind of stupid. I am not sending you alone into the Imperial side of a really big firefight. I didn't put as much work into you as I have just use you as some pawn."

Kess' eyes narrowed at him. There was more to it than that, and he knew it.

Luke tightened his jaw, but relaxed it with a shaking head. He grabbed his jacket and turned away muttering in defeat. "I'll see you in the morning."

Kess watched him go. The CIC bunker fell into silence at the slamming of the door. She dropped into the chair and stared at the floor. For a moment, she agreed with him. She was in no hurry to die, and she was not nearly arrogant enough to think that she had fantastic chances of making it out of there alive. But the thought of Sultani plagued her. That beautiful city on red sand beaches, and all the lives within it were gone. There were twice that many people here on Yavin 4. . . and these were her friends.

She shot out of the chair and went to the terminal. She went through the stack and brought out a couple of cards, determined to pick through the information until she either found plan that would work, or enough evidence to fortify this one. 

**  **  **  **  **  **  **

The air grew cooler as the sun began to fade and few people were out on the streets for a weekend afternoon. Kess had borrowed Yana's speeder and raced onto a dirt road and into the jungle. The late sun flashed across her face between long shadows. The speeder kicked up rooster tails of dust as she rounded corners at nearly 120 KPH, preparing for every turn before it appeared in the road in front of her. When she came to the last straight away, she just sped up. Half of her was scared of the galactic events that seemed to revolve around her, the other half was angry at the inability to confront the problem face to face. These mixed emotions showed up in her driving. 

The speeder fishtailed to a stop, skidding just inches away from Luke's speeder parked in the road, and she hastily hopped out. But she stopped short at the edge of the jungle. 

What once was a barely visible path was now beaten to the point of obvious. The dew melted off the trees and the squirrels scurried away and Kess suddenly realized that no one knew where this clearing was. Not Wedge, not Artoo. . . not even Leia. This is where he acted human. This is was where he vented. Luke had always given her the space she needed without her even having to ask, and suddenly Kess felt like a villain for walking in on his. 

She could sense his mood from miles away. He was upset, and he had every reason to be, but Kess' mouth hardened. This was her life that was being determined here. She wasn't going to let him out of the debate just because he decided to remove himself from scene. She decided that she would follow his final decision, whatever it was, but he was going to have to explain himself first. 

She could see him through the brush as she approached. His khaki pants were smudged with dirt, and beads of sweat dribbled down hardened shoulders to disintegrate in the ivory fabric of this tank top. The jungle breath misted up over him, humidity sizzled on the green blade, and hardened eyes stared down the attacking remote.

Kess draped her legs over the fallen log and locked her elbows, but she said nothing.

Luke's movement paused. His eyes shifted to the ground in her direction, his jaw tightened, and he looked back at the remote, raising his guard again. 

Kess watched him block a couple of shots while she tried to think of what to say and eventually decided just to start talking, no matter where the subject ended up. Her voice came out dry, "A Jedi Knight's purpose is to serve and protect peace and freedom, including the people of the New Alliance. And to protect them requires some risks. That's what you taught me."

Luke inhaled slowly and backed away from the remote, but he didn't look at her.

"I have a plan and I've worked out most of the details already. Sure, there isn't a one hundred percent chance I'm going to make it, but- there are too many lives at stake, too many _important_ lives."

He huffed through his nose and stepped up to the remote again, hissing between blast shots, "Since when was your life less important?"

Kess gathered her patience and stared at her crossed ankles. "Thousands of people lost their lives in Sultani when Admiral Cheenan failed to nab me, and we lost three pilots in the Battle of Rogue Twelve. We've got a half a million people on this base, Luke. Only a few thousand of them will go into that battle. The rest will be safe if that battle _isn't_ in our orbit. The civilians. The _children_. All the shopkeepers and restaurant owners, the poor guys that run the droid shops and drive the runners. . . None of them have any say in this. They don't have a clue that they might die on Tuesday. It's not fair to them if we don't do what we can to protect them."

He stopped and faced her, lowering his blade for a moment. "So, how will you get out?" he challenged.

Kess fought for the words, "You can come get me."

His eyes rolled sarcastically back into his head as he turned back to the remote. "If you're taken to a Star Destroyer, we have to _attack_ that Star Destroyer." He pointed out, blocking two shots. "If you're taken to Coruscant, we'd have to organize and even bigger firefight to get you out." He blocked another shot. "And if your taken to the Core Worlds? Into the Imperial's rats nest?" He looked at her and an eyebrow jumped up, "Tell Ben I said hello."

Kess jumped off the log, "At least give me credit that it's a good idea! Don't just sit there and shoot me down like I don't have a vote!"

Luke's mouth tightened as he stared down the remote. "It's a good idea and you do have a vote," he said stiffly, then confirmed his decision, "_No_."

This was the clearing, so Kess gave herself permission to lose her temper. She shot in front of him, ducking under the lethal lightsaber like it was merely a tree branch, and grabbed the buzzing remote from the air. The white-hot blade was headed in that direction when she did it, and he suddenly pulled back to keep from slicing her head clean off.

He turned off the blade in a rush and, after he'd sighed away the panic, his eyes fell on the woman standing in front of him throwing the remote into shrubbery like a baseball. Luke watched it sail through the air with a perturbed mouth, but before he had the chance to give her a scolding glare, she ripped the hilt from his hand. Luke's eyes widened as the hilt followed the remote, and then Kess' lightsaber followed that, crashing in the bushes over thirty feet away. 

Luke drug in a deep breath and looked at her over his nose. 

She stepped up to him, toe to toe, and her whisper grated across her throat. "You taught me to question everything and to make my own decisions. You taught me how to face the dark side and not let it get the best of me. So here I am, _Master_. I've made my decision, I'm ready to face him and I'm questioning _your_ decision not to let me go."

Luke squeezed his eyes shut and turned away.

Kess yelled at him. "The thrown of the Empire wants me and he is going to keep trying to get me until either I die or he dies. I am not going to sit here and hide under my Jedi Master's wing or the New Alliance's skirt for the rest of my life. I'm not going to risk all these lives so I can just keep running in fear. I have faced every dark emotion you've been able to come up with. Kadaan's the only burr left in my hide. _Yes_, I might not come back, and _yes,_ I'm scared out of my wits for it but if I could help win this battle in the process it would at least give my death a purpose. I don't want to go up against him when _you're_ ready if it means that nobody is going to benefit from it if I fail."

He held both sides of his head, drifting to the other side of the clearing.

"You know, when I first met you I thought I had it all figured out." The confidence in her voice was fading but still rough with frustration. "I knew where I was, I knew where I was going and I knew what I had to do to get there. But you walked in and put a blender to my priorities and a meat grinder to my life long plans and if I didn't already have a crush on you I would have hated you for it. 

"You ripped my life to shreds so you could put the pieces back together the way you wanted them to go. You ran me around that grinder and chased me off that cliff and sent me off to tell my father _exactly_ what he didn't want to hear. . . and you did it all in the name of Jedi Training. . . . But now I'm having a hard time figuring out which part is training and which part isn't," her tone lowered, "because you have not given me one good _Jedi_ reason not to go."

Luke roughly combed his bangs away with his fingers and let out a shaky sigh. He wanted this training to be over so badly. He looked out to the trees and the bushes. He felt the complexity and the peace of the jungle, the solitary of the clearing. The birds chirped through the trees, and the breeze brushed passed his cheek. The clearing was quiet and peaceful. It was the only place he could be human, the only place he felt truly alone with her . . . .

And they were still not alone.

He stared out to the trees and breathed in defeat, "Kess, I don't have any good Jedi reasons."

Kess burst out at him, _"Then why won't you let me go!"_

"BECAUSE I DON'T WANT TO LET YOU GO!" The truth finally exploded out in a growl that echoed exasperation into the looming timber. "I don't want you to _die_! All right! I want you to live long enough so you _can_ graduate, so you can help me with the Academy and help me with the Guild!" But all his excuses of responsibility fell to pieces until all that was left was raw fear of losing her, leaving his heart wide open to be stabbed. "I want you to stick around long enough so I can take you out to dinner. . . and then-" his growl quieted, "take you home with me. . ." his chest heaved for air. "I want to have a reason to take Saturdays off and sleep-in in the morning. . ." his voice fell to a hopeless whisper, "get a house on a beach cliff. . . ." His breath quivered, his waving arm fell, and a painful regret crossed his expression as he suddenly realized what he was saying out loud. Luke pulled down his pained eyes, fervently combed back the sweaty hair at his temples, and turned away again. 

Kess smiled weakly across a sad face and said it very gently, "I love you too."

Luke spun around and caught his breath. She stood there halfway between elated and falling apart at the seems, reading into his soul like. . . like a pane of glass. His heartbeat fluttered more as it sank in what _she_ just said. The blood in his fingertips tingled. 

He closed the distance between them in a few long strides. His hands came up to cradle her face and kiss her, ready to whisper all those forbidden promises, ready to make love to her right here in the clearing-

But her hands came up and stopped his arms in mid air.

Kess looked him firmly in the eye, "but my training is not over," she whispered stiffly, "and it won't be over until I get Kadaan off my back. . . and _you know that_." 

Luke pressed his lips together and closed his eyes. 

"If you can give me one good Jedi reason not to go. . . if you think I'm not ready or if you think I'll turn. . . I won't go. But I can't risk all those lives just because I want to protect our chances of living happily ever after. That goes against every Jedi thing you tried to teach me."

Luke's determination melted. He took her hands and lowered them, looking into the eyes of his apprentice. With all the politics and the rumors and the tension, she still kept everything in perspective. She didn't let her instinctive desire to live get in the way of her logic. She didn't huddle in fear at Kadaan's appetite or the entire Empire about to come down on top of them. Instead of getting wrapped up in her own agendas, her own training and career, her own romance, she thought of the people and the possible chance that she could save them.

The sorrow from facing her father had faded with the bruises. The pride of getting this far into her training had given way to the odds of war strategies. And her love for Luke, though self confirmed and registered, was under control enough so that she could do her job.

It was a fine trait in a Jedi Knight.

_Jedi Knight._

It reminded Luke of his responsibilities, as a Commander, as a Master. He had abused his position to try to keep her from going. This tiny battle had emerged before: sending pilots into a war zone to die was never easy, and over the years he had managed to turn that particular emotion off. But this was different. Kess was more than just his apprentice or Repair Supervisor. And even after she was done, she'd be more than just a fellow Jedi.

Luke suddenly realized that she had turned out just the way he wanted her to and finally accepted that he'd better get used to it. This wasn't the first time she had risked her life for the needs of the Alliance and it sure as hell wasn't going to be her last. 

He took the last tiny step forward, pulled her into his body and rested his temple on her forehead. He closed his eyes and his brows knitted together and held her as close as he could as he prayed into the Force that she would come back.


	8. Chapter 30

**Chapter 30**

Kess made Luke go home to take a shower and change so she went home to do the same before they went back to the CIC bunker. She worked fervently on the details of her plan as Luke called in the military council. The Generals and Admirals showed up in civvies one by one and planted themselves in the terminal chairs and leaning casually against mainframes around the darkened room as the patiently waited for the whole party to arrive.

Leia rushed in and looked pleased as punch to Luke, "Tell me it's good news."

Luke face was expressionless again, the first time in a long time, "Depends on your perspective." 

The hope vanished from Leia's eyes. 

Luke saw Admiral Sikey step into the back of the room and engage in a murmur with Admiral Ackbar. Then Luke counted the bodies, sighed, and glanced over at Kess. "Last chance to change your mind."

Kess was flustered but still determined. She pressed her lips together as she looked over the whispering crowd and just barely shook her head. 

Luke stood up straight and stepped up the glowing holomap. The military council placed themselves casually around the room, but Mon Mothma, looking like she was ready for a real council meeting, stepped up to the holomap's other side. "You have our attention, Jedi Skywalker."

Luke took in a breath and gestured at the three red bunches on the holomap's outer borders. "Our assessment of the data confirms the others. Kadaan's fleet is going to attack, but we believe that they will rendezvous before approaching Yavin 4. There's no way they can coordinate an exact hyperspace jump from that distance. It would risk them arriving up to twenty minutes apart, which would clearly be fatal in a confrontation of this size. I don't think Kadaan is willing to risk his fleet like that."

He paused, letting the information sink in, and glanced at several people before he continued. "If they do rendezvous, we can attack them before they hit hyperspace towards Yavin 4. And if there are more battle groups out there, outside of our satellite network, we'll still be able to hit all of them at once. Initiating a firefight away from the planet would save the lives of the civilian and ground crew as well as give us the element of surprise."

Admiral Ackbar stood and strolled over, gesturing at the map, "I agree that they will rendezvous, but for the plan to work, we need to know their exact rendezvous point. Do you have a plan to bring us this information?"

Luke's mouth tightened a little but he sighed and turned around to Kess. "I believe, Lieutenant, that would be your cue." With a small wave, Luke offered the floor to Kess. 

She bit her lower lip and stood up, stepped up to the holomap, watching Ackbar take his place again, watching Mon Mothma step back into the shadows a little. . . and she paused when she opened her mouth. 

Luke was staring at her through the maps colorful dots of data with his hands clasped behind his back and his jaw slightly downtrodden. He didn't like the plan, he wasn't convinced it would work, but he was still standing with her.

Her confidence spiked enough for her to begin. She cleared her throat and spoke as expressionless as everyone else. "Supreme Prophet Kadaan has attempted to have me kidnapped twice. I suggest we let him kidnap me this time. I would be taken to either the Fleet Admiral or Kadaan himself if he is out there, and as soon as they rendezvous, I can send a signal to Yavin 4 that would give you their precise location."

Leia turned her gaping mouth to Luke but her furrowed eyes stayed on Kess. The murmurs in the room grew louder and was pierced when Han belted out a "By yourself?"

Mon Mothma stepped around the map carefully, sending an order over her shoulder. "Silence please." When the whispering slowed, she waved a hand at Kess, "Please continue, Lieutenant."

Kess wasn't sure how many details she should reveal with a spy still running around, but then, this was the military council. If there were any spies in here, they were in a black hole for sure. "There is at least one spy here that Kadaan had been communicating with about me. Convincing that spy that he has successfully nabbed me should be pretty easy. Once I'm in the air, the council can gather and hit the air raid alarm. Our troops can hit hyperspace as soon as you get my signal and attack the Imperials before they even know you're coming."

General Nadine squinted pessimistically at her. "How will you get a transmitter past their scanners?"

Kess was proud of her contraption and grinned as she pulled the lightsaber off her belt. "With this." She offered it to him, but he didn't take it, he just peered inside the tiny open door. "I've altered my lightsaber to send out a signal pulse at a certain frequency and voltage. The frequency will tell you it's me, the deteriorating voltage will tell you distance and the direction will," she shrugged, "well, tell you direction. I chose a frequency that is a product of a Star Destroyer's normal function: the recharge or their short wave guns, but the voltage would be have to be huge to reach Yavin 4. A nominal reading would appear as though it had spiked, which would be perceived by an Imperial operator that the recharge units are on the brink of failure. If we're lucky, they might even delay the attack to check the guns."

As General Nadine nodded in approval. Another voice sounded in the back of the room, "What if they take the lightsaber away from you? The first step in kidnapping somebody is to disarm them."

"She's a Jedi," Luke suddenly spoke out, "If that transmitter is anywhere on the same Star Destroyer she is, she can trigger it."

Kess' shoulders squared a little.

Whispers rolled through the room. Leia stepped up. "It is a brilliant and brave plan, Kess," her tone was more of a discouraging elder sister than of a Minister of State, "But how do you plan to get out once the signal had been sent?"

Kess met Luke's eyes for a moment before responding. She shrugged, "When our forces attack with a good punch, it'll give me enough of a distraction to work with," she smiled a little, "and then I'll just have to play it by ear." 

Leia forced herself to blink over bulging eyes. 

Han strolled forward with his hands on his hips, whispering through quiet chuckle, "Yea got to admit we're improving," he said. "At least she _admits_ she doesn't have a plan for getting out before she goes in."

Admiral Ackbar stepped up to the map studiously, "We cannot be sure that Shori Ka is the only other spy. Can we send up our forces with standing orders so we can block all transmissions before we hit the air raid alarm?"

Admiral Sikey stepped up with him, "I'm sure we can devise something. We can alert all the Group Commanders of the plan before she even leaves. Are we certain the spy isn't a Group Commander or above?" Yellowed eyes turned to Kess.

Kess shook her head. "We think we know how the spy has been monitoring my training progress." She thought about the clearing and the clues. "It's probably someone one of us hangs out with on a social basis. I don't make it a habit to hang out with any Group Commanders."

Heads turned to Luke. _What is he? Chopped parsley?_

Kess grinned at the Jedi Knight, "Are _you_ the spy?"

Luke quietly chuckled at her.

Kess looked back at Admiral Sikey, "I think your safe with telling the Group Commanders."

General Nadine cocked his head at Kess, "Lieutenant, you need to figure out who the spy is before you can convince him or her to kidnap you." 

Kess nodded, "Yes, Admiral."

Mon Mothma squared her shoulders at him. "Jedi Skywalker, are you confident that your apprentice is ready for such and endeavor? Single handily? I do not want to turn over a Jedi for Kadaan to complete her training against us."

Luke's chin raised a little, "Yes, Chief Commander." His eyes went to Kess, "I have ultimate confidence in her abilities."

A smile curled Kess' lips. 

Mon Mothma turned away, "Very well. Let's work out the details. . . ."

Han was behind her, talking fake casualness into his comm link. "Lieutenant Deitrik, this is Captain Solo. Can I get your help over here? I've got a little assignment I'd like to get finished for the Council Meeting on Monday."

Yana's voice came back annoyed. "No offense, Captain, but it's like- Saturday night."

Han flashed a cockeyed grin, "Sorry, Deitrik, but it wasn't like- a request."

Yana breathed a sigh of relief into the mike. "I'm on my way."

Kess watched with pride as the high command of the New Alliance took her plan apart, finding the holes and filling them up. All the bodies gathered around the same set of terminals, only two of the Admirals actually typing away. Kess looked over Lando's shoulder and the man let her step in front of him to talk directly with Admiral Ackbar about an idea.

The activity of the room geared up and the volume of the voices increased. Not an unusual sight in the CIC bunker, but Luke stepped back out of the crowd, leaned his shoulder against a far wall, and bowed his head for a quick meditation.

Leia waited until he raised his head again before stepping over. "What happened to the Jedi not being expected to give their lives for the New Alliance?" she asked gently.

Luke focused on her in the dark corner and whispered monotonously. "It was her idea."

Han dropped his shoulder on the wall behind Leia, "You want to try to organize a plan to get her out during the fight?"

 "I tried, but she wouldn't go for it." Luke gritted his teeth, "She can get as stubborn as Leia."

Leia smiled at him as she turned, "Well then, let's see if she can beat me at being stubborn."

The trio approached the crowd at the other end of the room, but Luke hung back behind them with his hand stuffed shyly in his pockets. Leia met Kess in the middle of the floor. "We also need to a plan to get you out of there. Han can land the Falcon on a predetermined spot on the Star Destroyer and Luke can run in and get you-"

Kess was already shaking her head. "No way. You guys gotta be out there to fight." She peeked between their shoulders to Luke, "What if the Star Destroyer blows while you're on it?"

Luke smiled at her from under his eyebrows. "What if the Star Destroyer blows up while _you're_ on it?"

Kess shook her head at Han, but pointed at Luke, "He needs to be out there leading Rogue Group."

Han glanced over, "Will you be leading Rogue Group for this one last hoorah?"

Kess squinted hard at Han and narrowed a glare at Luke. Luke squeezed his eyes shut with a curse. "I'm sorry, I completely forgot to tell you."

Her hands went to her hips, "You forgot to tell me what?"

Suddenly he stepped between the bodies to her, grabbed her hand and dragged her from the crowd. As soon as he had the elbowroom to do so, he pulled her in front of his stride and ushered her into the conference room. Kess tightened her jaw as she stepped halfway down the side of the table and spun around already angry. Luke shut the door behind him.

There was a short paused, then Han pursed his lips, "Oops."

Lando raised an eyebrow at Han and Leia and grinned, "They fight like you guys do."

General Nadine stepped through them and said it as casually as if he had been standing there the whole time, "Yeah, but that's a supposedly good sign."

Luke stepped to her and met her eye. "I'm resigning my commission." When she winced violently and Luke put his hands on her arms to calm her down. "We have been running ourselves ragged for the last eight months, Kesselia. We're both exhausted and it's shown up in our work. You may be able to get back to normal after your training's over but I won't. I have to go out there and train the _next_ apprentice and then the _next_ one. That's a full time job in itself, not to mention setting up the Guild and all these treaty missions I keep going on."

His reasons didn't faze her. Her mouth was still gaping in complete disbelief, "You're _resigning_?"

Luke rubbed his forehead and turned away. 

"At least you could have told be you were thinking about it." Kess dropped her arms to her sides. "Or was that going to be yet another thing that was waiting for my training to be over?"

Luke turned to her and lowered his tone. "I was hoping that you, of all people, would support me on this."

She swallowed hard. "Did this just come up from something I did?"

"No, I've been considering it for a while. It had nothing to do with you."

She walked up behind him, crossing her arms, "What then? You've wanted this since you were a kid. You even get squirmy when you can't fly for a few days. What could possibly-?" she stopped and sighed into her palms.

He looked at her over his shoulder. "Kess, I decided to this years ago. I've just been waiting for a good time to do it, but I realized on our trip that there wasn't going to _be_ a good time. It's always going to be one thing after another, and I simply have other plans that can't wait any longer for me to 'find the time'."

She was worried more than she was curious. "Like what?"

Luke started but closed his mouth. "Look, I'm sorry. Okay? This only came up yesterday. I didn't want to spoil the reception and then today. . ." he waved a hand at the door and dropped it, "Today, my mind has been on you, not my commission." He pleaded forgiveness, "and I just _forgot_."

Kess closed her eyes and cursed herself for blowing up at him, but the news did slap her across the face. She slid her hand around his arm and weaved her fingers into his warm hand, dropping her forehead on his shoulder.

His whisper came out deathly quiet, "You are about to go up against your final test, Kesselia. . . worse than facing your father, worse than me facing mine." She looked up and met his eyes, pressing her mouth against his shoulder. "Now I know I'm a hypocrite for saying this, but the last thing you should be doing is worrying about what I'm up to. Don't be wasting brain time worrying about my commission right now. And when you're up there, don't worry about where I am, or if I'm safe. . . You worry about you, and I'll worry about me. . . and then _you come back_ to me. . . All right?"

Kess squeezed his hand and nodded. 

Luke squeezed back. "C'mon, we've got a lot of work to do."

They left the conference room and returned to the busy group trying to prepare for every contingency. Yana had arrived and was still standing in front of the door with shock at the amount of people in the bunker. Her shock was only magnified when Kess came out of the bodies to her. "Hey girly girl, 'tsup?"

Yana's open hands were at her sides. "Is the entire solar system coming to an end or what?"

Kess shoved her hands in her pockets. "No. But close."

Han and Lando stepped up to Kess expectantly, "Now about getting you out of there."

Kess looked back at Luke, but Luke didn't give her the chance. "They'll probably have her in the detention cells or the bridge." He flipped on the switches and pulled up the piecemealed schematic of an Imperial Class Star Destroyer. "My guess is the bridge so he can show off his fleet and try to get her to turn."

"_If_ that's the reason why he's after her in the first place."

Kess rubbed her lips together as the other stepped away and turned to Yana with a grin like nothing important was going on. "So, how you been?"

"How have _I_ been?" Yana eyebrows slanted at her in disbelief, "What's this about getting you out of a Star Destroyer?"

Kess blew up at her bangs and was getting ready to explain the whole thing to Yana when Han called out to them, "C'mon Deitrik." Yana pulled her eyes away from Kess and walked over to the holomap. Han ushered Yana over, "Highlight the bridge level." Yana tapped away and the bridge lighted red within the fine blue lines of the Star Destroyer's tower. The gang watched the schematic rotate from vector to vector and Kess slowly joined them.

She watched Han, Lando, Luke and Leia all discuss options about where to park the Falcon, and what to do if she wasn't on the bridge when they did. Yana followed orders as fast as she could, getting requests faster than she could type, and the murmuring of the Admirals and Generals flowed through the darkness like water. 

Kess' mind started to wander. She stared at the red-lined bridge, then looked through the hologram into the air beyond, focusing on Luke's black tunic of a Jedi Uniform. She saw his jaw muscles rippling as he talked and his teeth clench in between sentences. She saw the skin of his neck and the pin on his collar and she thought about how the long months of training was about to come to an end.

Jedi Training. Running around the grinder before dawn and running around the jungle long after dinner. Grabbing a bite to eat between exercises, reading ancient books of history during hurried walks to and from work, to and from his barracks. Hours upon days of monotonous study in his den, and even more hours of serene practice and mysterious stories in the clearing. If it weren't for the girlies supporting her through the parts that Luke wouldn't, she would have never have made it this far. She depended so much on Deli nights where she vented as much as she could into three sets of friendly ears.

She vented about training. Kess caught her breath. "Damnit!"

Conversation halted.

"The girlies didn't know what they couldn't say," Kess' eyes flashed to Luke. "And Kaila feels she can tell him anything."

Yana turned to her like she was losing it. "Rett D'monck?" Her face filled with horror at the things that man would have learned and told. She breathed, "No."

Luke's face wrinkled and he turned away with a violent curse. As soon as the word left his mouth his eyes landed on Kess, thinking the same thing she was saying out loud. "He hasn't been watching _your_ private life, he's been watching _mine_." A frightened whisper escaped, "I have to get out of here."

The others were staring at her, trying to determine if she was freezing up already. 

She exclaimed, pointing to the holographic Star Destroyer. "We have to get me in there before we can get me out. I need to get back to the barracks and start pretending like nothing's going on. I need to give him ample opportunity to kidnap me." She pointed at Yana, "Her too. If he thinks were all in here devising some plan, he'll alert the Imperials."

Yana stepped around the holomap to Kess, "I left him with Kaila and Joanne at the Mash Pit when I came here." She started getting ready to leave and ask a whole bunch of questions.

Kess' mind had leaped to another hemisphere. She rushed over to Luke and reached for his collar, not returning his hard stare as she fiddled with his Jedi Pin. His voice was fatherly firm, "_Do not_ leave this planet without telling me first."

She gave him a reassuring smile. "I won't. You guys just keep working on this. I'll meet you on the bridge unless I find some other way out."

Luke swallowed his anxiety and nodded, but his eyebrows rose as her hands pulled away with his pin and started attaching it to her own collar. 

Han leaned heavily on the base of the holomap. "Did I miss something?"

She grinned as she attached it and straightened it. "He'll panic if he thinks I graduated. Then I'll know for certain that it's him."

Luke started to smile, but when she turned to a comm terminal and started typing, his smile faded.

**TO: Shori Ka36489-TERM@PUBLIC.NET**

**FR: **

**RE:blue**

**We're ready.**

She met Luke's eyes. "Send this as soon as you can figure out how to make it look like it really did come from Kadaan."

Luke looked at her again and inhaled a deep breath.

"Don't worry. He'll need some time to get all his pieces in place. Don't go to my barracks, and don't beep me on the link."

He nodded with worry. It took several seconds for Luke to decide what to say. He finally gave in and muttered it, "May the Force be with you."

Kess winked at him, "You too." She looked in his eyes long enough for him to realize what she really meant. The corner of his mouth curled a little, and then he watched her and Yana rush out the door.

**  **  **  **  **  **  **

"You're gonna do _what!?_" Yana shouted from the drivers seat of her speeder. 

Kess let out a tested sigh, "C'mon girl. Keep it together. It's a Jedi thing. I gotta go up against the bad guy and save the day, okay?"

Yana put her palm to her forehead, but managed to keep it together. "We've got three blasters in the barracks and I'm sure Kaila's got one or two." She chewed on her thumbnail. "And we should fuel up the speeder before we go to the Mash Pit."

Kess started climbing out of the speeder before Yana came to a complete stop. "That a girl!" 

Yana hopped out and hurried behind, "How are we gonna tell Kaila?"

"We're not going to tell Kaila anything just yet. She'll blow our cover. We've got to bait him into kidnapping me first. I'll tell you my idea inside."

Yana pulled her long hair from the bun as she marched and grunted at her friend's back, "You've got _another_ idea?"

**  **  **  **  **  **  **

Han and Lando were arguing lightly about who would fly and who would be in the gun turret and Admiral Ackbar had taken over the holomap to plan out attack formations. Leia breathed away the stress and glanced over. She caught Luke half sprawled in a chair and rubbing his weary eyes.

"Luke, you're exhausted." She knelt at his side and hung on the armrest. "We can take care of this. Why don't you go home and get some sleep." 

Luke tapped his thumbnails on his lips, not looking at her.

She went from pleading to ordering. "She's not going anywhere until tomorrow at the soonest. The Imperials are over two days away, which means we'd have to wait two days before we do hear from her. If your are going to get any sleep, you'd better go do it now."

Humor brightened his eyes. "Yes, mother."

Even Leia had forgotten in all the frenzy. She bowed her head shyly. Her face glowed with pure elation. 

Luke draped his elbows over the armrests. "Have you gone to Med Lab yet?"

Leia shook her head, "No, I uh-"

"Well then, I'll make you a deal."

She whined painfully at him, "Not you too."

He shrugged, "Hey, I've just as must of a vested interest as he does." He gestured in Han's direction. "Maybe more."

She squinted a cautious eye.

He straightened proudly, "I'm going Uncle and a Jedi Master two more times."

Leia smiled mother-like again, "That's a pretty big job, you'd better get your sleep."

Luke sighed in defeat, and then suddenly warned as if it were a threat of some kind. "But I'll be in here tomorrow."

Leia patted his hand and stood up, "So will we."

**  **  **  **  **  **  **

Yana and Kess strutted into the Mash Pit successfully playing it off like they were giddishly happy they escaped duty. The music pounded through the smoke and the smell of patzia and ale wafted through the air. They weaved through the crowded tables to the booths in the back where Joanne and Kaila were slowly getting drunk and their dates were quickly getting lucky. Rett was leaning away from Kaila to frown into his commlink and then quickly put it away.

"Hey, they finally let you out of the basement!" Kaila smiled at the approaching women. "Wanna beer?"

Hagat tightened his arm around Joanne's waist, "Yeah, what's the big deal with them calling you in on a Saturday night?"

Kess raised her proudly grinning chin and pointed excitedly at her collar.

Kaila's face went wild. "You go girly girl!" 

Joanne stood up and squealed, Hagat smiled warmly and the color in Rett's face quickly faded. Kess felt a slight panic well up into the Force and fade again into hard, decisive determination. Rett suddenly flashed his lady killer smile, "Congratulations, Kess."

Kess fought to keep the smile brightening her face when she thanked him. A round of congratulations rolled across the table as Yana sat down in the nearest chair, grabbed a half empty mug, and swallowed a shot full. "So where's the party? You guys planning on staying here all night?" She waved a hand in the Kess' direction, "The Jedi Knight here deserves a celebration, don't you think?"

 "And celebrate we will!" Kaila pronounced as she stood stepping around to give her best friend a happy hug. She whispered into Kess' ear. "If your training is over, shouldn't you be partying with a new attachment?"

Kess reached over and picked a slice of sausage off an almost naked piece of patzia. "I just spent every hour of every day over the last eight friggin' months with that man, I am _not_ partying with him tonight."

Joanne leaned forward and grabbed a piece of pizza off the half empty plate. "Let's go to that dance club."

Rett spoke up as he pulled Kaila to sit back down next to him. "There's a little get together going on at Toban Ridge," he offered.

Kaila cuddled up next to him, "I didn't hear about it. Is it gonna be as big as the last one?"

"Naw, just a few lads from the Scrap Shop getting together. Wanna go?"

Kaila wrinkled a groundhog nose at Rett, "I'd love to."

Rett was already setting the stage. Yana looked like she was concentrating on eating the patzia, but was keeping a half eye on Rett. The man kissing Kaila lavishly behind the ear and was reeking with deceit, a deceit that could have been easily mistaken for just a young sailor trying to score, and Yana wasn't even Force sensitive. She cursed herself for not seeing it before She smacked the last of the patzia away and dusted the crumbs off her hands. She glanced at Kess.

The Jedi brought a mug to her mouth so she wouldn't have to look him in the eye. "Toban Ridge it is. But we can't fit all six of us in Yana's speeder."

Rett shrugged a shoulder as he tossed his napkin to the tabletop. "I've got my speeder here too. Why don't you come with Kaila and I?" He stood and donned a brown jacket.

"Nope." Kess said rather arrogantly. "I am pulling rank. The girly girls are going in Yana's speeder. You _guys_ can follow behind." She turned on her heals for the door. "We'll meet you there."

 "I'll see you on the ridge." Kaila's sing song voice insinuated a private party as well.

 Everyone started swallow the last dribbles of ale left in the mugs. Hagat offered an arm to Joanne to escort her proudly out of the building. Joanne took his arm with a grin and climbed out of the back of the booth. "Check please!"

As the small crowd walked out to the street, Rett's cold blue eyes smiled at Kess as he straightened the collar of his jacket. "Want me to pick up some drink on the way?"

Kess smiled kindly at him as they strolled to Yana's speeder. "While you're at it, pick up a couple of swords on the way. Maybe I could interest you in another fencing duel?"

Rett's eyes bulged out. "Now? Not on your life, little lass." He grinned as he stepped away. "I'll see you girls up there." He winked at Kaila and peeled off with Hagat towards where his own speeder was parked. 

 Yana and Kess jumped silently into the front seats and Kaila and Joanne climbed into the back, chatting away about the party and asking questions about Kess' graduation. Yana took her time powering up her speeder, and two hard sets of eyes watched Rett's speeder peel away and around the corner. 

"He bought it," Kess whispered heavily.

Yana muttered back, "Do you think Hagat's in on it too?"

Kaila and Joanne suddenly went silent and shifted forward in their seats. 

"No," Kess said quietly. "He's just in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"You wanna clue us in there, Little Miss Jedi Knight?" Kaila's voice was as heavy as a lead weight. 

Kess pulled the Jedi Pin off her collar and muttered to Yana, "Stop by Luke's place for a minute."

Joanne's black eyebrows hardened. "Hullow! Are you deaf? What the hell is going on?"

Kess turned solemnly to the girlies worried and curious in the back seat. "We've been had, girly girls." She sighed heavily at the news that would hit Kaila hard. "We've been had."

**  **  **  **  **  **  **

Kess put her thoughts to the door lock and it sighed aside to the silent room. Only the kitchen's counter light was on, glowing white-blue onto the clean ivory and black furniture. Her footsteps echoed as she hurried in. Artoo slept on standby in his corner until his lights blinked on when his sensors detected the front door had been jimmied. He beeped.

Kess cut him off with a pat on his dome head. "It's just me. Go back to sleep."

Artoo swiveled downward a little, as if sighing to shake his head, and quietly beeped a derogatory statement about droids not having the capacity to sleep. Then he shut himself off again. 

Luke was already blinking out of his meditation when she opened the door. He knew immediately that it was Kess and he was in no danger, but a thousand questions crossed his mind as she climbed onto the foot of the bed and crawled to him on her hands and knees. He rose onto one elbow in a sleepy alert, the black sheet spilled off his bare chest as he half sat up, and then his eyebrows tied into a hard knot when she pressed her mouth against his.

She pulled away almost immediately and looked him in the eye, still hovering on her hands and knees over his side, her brows furrowed nearly as much as his. Luke blinked once. The clearest of a thousand questions in his expression was, _Why are you in my bed kissing me? _But before his thoughts formed the words to argue, he sensed the anxiety from her, a touch of fear, a touch of worry, and overflowing determination.

She was leaving _now_.

His lips parted and his eyes widened and he reached for her the same moment Kess realized that he wasn't going to bark at her. She fell to the bed at his side and drank in the feel of big arms around her. He cradled her, almost rolling on top of her, and kissed her lavishly, reaching deep and swallowing the passion. His fingers caressed their way into the feather soft hair behind her ear while the other hand took her side and strongly pulled her hip into him. Kesselia's body fit perfectly in his grip, like the last piece of the jigsaw puzzle of his life. She brought warmth to the cool sheets of his bed. Her hair splashed gold across the ominous pillows. She lightly drew her claws across his back like she couldn't get close enough. The kiss lasted for a long desperate minute before he slowed. His mouth hovered open over hers, panting speechlessly.

He wanted to say it but the words caught in his throat. The Force trembled with impending doom as though this would be the last time he would see her alive. Luke squeezed the reaction of human instinct from his eyes.

She pulled Yana's commlink out of the breast pocket of her Jedi Uniform and shoved it into his hand. When he squinted at it, she whispered to him in the darkness. "You can follow the commlink signal up to seven parsecs away and get the direction long before I get there. The thing's power cell will be long since drained by the time I get to the battle groups. As long as Rett doesn't realize it's on, you've got enough of a homing device to get you started."

He closed his fingers around the link. 

He had a very bad feeling about this.

Luke focused on her in the darkness and then kissed her again, soft, slow and gentle. Their lips parted for the last time, and after a good long pause to stare into each other's eyes, Kesselia slipped out of his arms, crawled off the bed, and left.


	9. Chapter 31

**Chapter 31**

**Sunday**

Yana drove the speeder slowly around the windy curves to the top of Toban Ridge. Her headlights fell on the shield generator unit that huddled in the corner of the beaten down jungle clearing at the top of the cliff and she turned into the rough parking lot that housed a handful of late night parties and drunken stupors in the past. A single speeder was parked at the ridge, facing out to the valley where the base and surrounding city glittered in a thousand lights below. Yana parked the speeder near the end of the lot and powered it down.

Kaila was staring stiffly out the fading window, her elbow propped up on the ledge and her tense fingers pressed to her stiff mouth. "Can I kill him?"

"No," Kess told her quietly, but understanding the woman's desire to. "Use the blasters only for your defense, and to defend the shield generator link, but let them take me. As soon as I'm gone, go straight to the CIC bunker and get your eyes on my signal." She pulled the straps away and climbed out.

Yana jumped out and Joanne was right behind her. They went to the trunk and started pulling out four fully charged blasters of various flavors.

Kess marched over to the quiet speeder in the lot and pounded hard on the rapidly fogging window. The speeder shook suddenly as someone was yanked out of their activity and the window lowered with a young hardened face inside.

Kess peered in. The kids were barely out of high school. The girl pulled a shirt over her bare chest and the boy was panting mad until he recognized Kess.

"You must leave."

The young boy's breath stopped for a moment.

"Don't speed, and don't stop the next car from coming up." Kess told him firmly. "But go home, _right now_."

The boy nodded fervently, hit the power switch with one hand, and hit the window control with the other. In a moment, the speeder purred away and down the windy cliff road. 

The jungle mist of midnight chilled her cheeks and raised goose bumps on her forearms. The far off dead moon of Yavin 5 glowed a dim blue green light down on the jungle. Kess stepped toward the cliff with a hard glare at the beautiful scenery, listening to the crickets and frogs sing loudly all around the lot, listening to the shuddering hum of the shield generator unit huddling lightless in the shrubs behind her. The reason the road up here was plowed was to let service vehicles get to that shield generator unit. That's why Rett picked this spot. He planned to take out the shield generator the same time he planned to take out Kess. 

Looking out over the valley, at the shimmering city kilometers away, she easily sensed Luke's glow near North Base, but with all the other lives sleeping soundly down there, and all the animal and plant life spreading think through the jungle, it would have been a task to sense out Rett or anyone he was with. 

Kess turned away. He was coming to her anyway.

She returned to the girlies standing behind Yana's speeder. "Stand around the far side of the speeder and hide the blasters. Make it look like were just talking."

Joanne reached out for a blaster in slight panic about the situation, Yana slapped another blaster in Kess' hand. Kess watched Kaila finally crawl out of the speeder and step to them. Even in the darkness, she could see the fire of hate in her green eyes. "I'm sorry, Kaila."

Kaila held out a hand. "Blaster." 

When Kess didn't give it to her right away, Kaila stepped closer and demanded. "Give me the fuckin' blaster!"

Kess pressed her lips together. "You can't kill him, Kaila."

Kaila grabbed the thing from Kess' hand, huffing for a retort, wanting to be able to at least hurt the man very badly, but her nose twitched as the anger was stifled with the problem. Rett had to get away without a scratch so he could kidnap Kess without the Imperials suspecting anything. "Well, then you kill him for me when you get up there."

Kess turned away, having no intentions of taking revenge out on anybody, but wanting to make her friend feel better anyway. "I'll see what I can do." She propped a foot on the bumper, where her body would hide the blaster on her hip and pulled her lightsaber off its D ring. She let her arm hang casually at her side, and looked out toward the road.

Yana shut the trunk and slid sideways on top of it, facing Kess, and also letting her blaster-filled hand hang below the chassis. Joanne propped an arm on the top of the car, and Kaila rested her shoulder on the driver's side window, all watching the road for Rett to come marching up.

After a long silence, Kaila spoke quietly, "Kess?"

Kess kept her eyes on the road. "Yeah?"

"I'll make you a deal." Kaila said.

Kess glanced over. "What?"

Kaila paused long enough for Joanne to look at her and Yana turn around curiously. Finally, the woman burst out evilly. "I promise I won't shoot that bastard, if you would finally fuck Luke's brain's out when you come back!"

Joanne hit her forehead on the speeders hood. Yana turned to look back at the road with a quiet, "Oh my."

Kess looked back to the road as well, "I think Jedi Knights are, by their very nature, incapable of fucking anyone's brains out."

Kaila shot her a perturbed look.

Kess smiled a little, "But I'll try."

When the silence fell again, they could hear the speeder coming. Kess could feel the growing anxiety in her friends as the headlights shined from around the corner and realized just how much danger she was putting them in. As the four looked out at the speeder pulling up the mountain, she whispered to them, "I can't thank you guys enough for this."

Yana muttered quietly in return, "Thank us when you come back."

The speeder groaned as it pulled its heavy contents up the last stretch and crawled to a parking spot, but another speeder groaned up behind it. The girlies stiffened. Kess counted over eight bodies between the two vehicles and adjusted her grip on her hiding lightsaber.

They watched as Rett climbed out of the first speeder with a delightful smile. But a crowd of human males crawled out with him. Kess recognized only one of the eight men, and he was just an acquaintance from the supply locker in B Complex. She thought optimistically though, they managed to weed out eight spies in one mission. "Not bad," she said aloud.

Three of the men crossed the parking lot casually to the shield generator in the far corner. Rett had a blaster at his hip and something else in his hand as he stepped over, still putting on the charade, even though the other four were placing themselves behind him with blasters pointed at the women.

The girlies stared hard at them, not surprised, not worried, and not saying anything about it.

Rett stopped at the edge of Yana's trunk and looked at Kess, "Cat got your tongue?"

Kess raised a brow, "What do you expect me to say?"

Rett started, but his eyes lit up as he looked at her, "You knew." He suddenly realized. "So, that's what you and your lovey dovey living legend were arguing about this afternoon."

The bug was in the clearing. Kess swallowed. There was a lot of that conversation nobody else in the galaxy was supposed to hear. 

"So why are you here?" He asked like he didn't care in the first place. He didn't take his eyes off her but told one of the men behind him. "Alert Father that his plan has been foiled. Apparently the Rebels know they're coming."

An older man with graying hair at his temples pulled out a long-range comm unit and switched it on. In a flash, Kess flicked on her lightsaber and lunged toward the man, slashing down at his arm and severing his hand from his elbow. The hand still grasped the large comm unit as it tumbled to the ground. The man fell to his knees screaming at his severed limb.

With that Joanne, Yana and Kaila raised their blasters and ducked behind the speeder all at once, firing at every standing body except for Rett. One went down immediately. The others strafed back and fired in return. Shouting from the shield generator ensued. And everyone scrambled for cover as the blast shots went flying.

Kess sidestepped to get beck behind Yana's speeder again, but Rett stepped forward to her as he lit his own lightsaber. Kess instinctively raised her guard and the blades crashed together. 

Kess looked passed the red-hot glow at the face of her old partner and knew for certain that this man was no undercover Jedi. He had the emotions of a spy in a sticky situation, nothing more. He answered her question so she wouldn't have to ask it. "You don't need to be Force Sensitive to know how to use one of these."

Kess strafed back a few more feet, getting her and Rett out of the line of fire. "You do if you want to use it right." 

Rett tapped her blade, "I hate to break it to you Kess, but I let you win at that party. You were just too drunk to tell the difference." He pulled back and brought his blade down with a crashing blow, Kess deftly blocked it over her head.

Kaila glanced back at the two dueling and aimed her blaster for another shot at the speeder the others had dipped behind. Yana squinted out at the shield generator looking for signs of the others, but couldn't make out any bodies in the darkness. Under all the noise of the blast shots and the screaming man on the ground, they could still here the generator's shuddering hum. It was still on, but not for long. Kaila popped her head up, fired, and ducked back down again. An array of fire pelted the side of Yana's speeder and sailed past their heads. 

Occasionally, Kess had to pull her blade away form Rett's to block a shot headed in her direction, and usually he took the advantage and lunged, but still couldn't get through her defenses. Kess had strafed back until she was nearly in the jungle and held his blade at bay. She didn't try any fatal swings at the man. She needed him alive too badly. She just wanted him out of the way for now. Letting him show off his sword fighting skills seemed to be working just fine.

Suddenly, the farthest parked speeder powered up and roared its engines out of the parking space. 

Kaila swore as she ducked. "They're trying to get out so they can alert the Imperials."

Yana fired a couple of shots at the back of the fleeing speeder until it disappeared behind the generator and kept going, then she quickly gave up to shoot one of the men who lost his cover when it moved. He fell to the ground. 

Joanne slinked behind them both and tapped Yana on the shoulder as she passed. "Cover me." 

Immediately, Kaila and Yana plastered the racing speeder, the men hiding behind the parked speeder, the bushes near the generator with flying red shots. Joanne ducked and ran towards the nearest bushes and dipped into the trees, her black body faded into the darkness quickly.

As soon as Joanne had disappeared, Kaila jumped head first into Yana's speeder and shouted at her. "I'll shoot, you drive!"

Yana fired a few more shots, another of the front line went down and she jumped into the driver's seat. The speeder twisted back and stopped where it was pelted with a dozen shots from the bushes. Then Yana hit the accelerator and zoomed right between the last speeder and the generator. As they passed, a shot came sideways across the parking lot and nailed the last man on the front line in the forehead. In seconds, Yana's speeder raced into the jungle as well.

Before the noise of it all completely echoed away, a man howled out in pain, and fell to the ground from behind the generator. The shots went silent, and the generator's hum filled the air again.

**  **  **  **  **  **  **

Luke rushed out of his barracks building fully dressed and fully charged with Artoo beeping at his heals, complaining about how long it took to call all the Council into the CIC bunker for the impending action. As he raced to his speeder, he could sense Kess' slight victory, he could sense the fears of the others, and he looked up to the ridge, just barely visible in the moonlight. Not more that five kilometers south of the clearing, he saw the last few blast shots of a showdown at the top of Toban Ridge, and he could sense that a few of them were racing along the top of the cliff on some unseen road. And none of them were Kess.

They were trying to stop somebody, and the girlies were going to need some help.

Luke turned to Artoo and handed the droid the precious commlink. "Get this to the CIC bunker and have Leia get her eyes on the signal." Artoo beeped acknowledgment, took the link in one of his many arms and sucked it back into his body as he burned rubber down the sidewalk.

Luke skipped to a run to his speeder, hopped in, and without bothering to strap the belts, roared out of the parking lot.

**  **  **  **  **  **  **

Joanne aimed her blaster as she snuck around the corner in search of the last two technicians who had been trying to take the generator down. In the dark of midnight, she lost them in the trees.

Rett didn't look behind him to see what was going on. His smiled had faded into tense hatred by now, trying to disarm Kess and not making any progress. 

"They want me alive, Rett." Kess reminded him.

Rett jabbed the lightsaber once, then again, and after a pause, a third time. "I'll get plenty of money for delivering you dead."

Kess saw Joanne out of the corner of her eye, sneaking around the generator, looking for the last two men, and she knew it was time to end this. With the Force accenting her strength, she pulled back and brought her blade into his with a powering blow, knocking it halfway to the side. Rett stepped back fearfully and finally decided to take the hilt with both hands. But Kess came at him again, moving him back toward the cliff, and knocking the lightsaber further out of his grip. 

"Shori!" Called out a fearful voice. There was a scramble in the far bushes and a blast shot pierced the air.

Rett looked for the first time and realized his entire troop had been eliminated. Kess took the opportunity and slashed down at the red blade. The thing sailed blade over hilt away from him and sizzled into the nearby foliage as it went out. 

Kess lunged up to him, pointing her amber blade at his neck with rebellious eyes. Rett opened his hands to the air. 

From deep in the trees, Joanne saw that Kess had him, and listened intently for any other footfalls. She cursed under breath at where the last guy was and decided that, since no one knew where she was either, it would probably be best if she stay hiding until the last Imperial revealed himself. 

**  **  **  **  **  **  **

Among the usually peaceful buzz of the jungle, a speeder with a frantic driver burst through the overgrown bushes and Yana's speeder tore down the road behind it. She drove with gritting teeth, trying to dodge low hanging branches and rocks that littered the road. Kaila leaned half her body out of the window, firing rapidly at the other vehicle until it was blackened with shots and her blaster ran out of power. She sunk back into the seat, ripping the charger from the handle. "Blast it."

Yana yanked around an overgrown bush, "It's not touching him anyway."

Kaila hissed as she scrambled in the back seat for another charger, "We've got to stop him somehow." 

The speeder ahead missed a turn to the left and plunged into the bushes ahead. It slowed the pace, but he kept racing as fast as the speeder would carve through the jungle. Yana managed to catch up a little, "He's acting like he's just running scared."

Kaila turned back around, holding onto the dashboard as the speeder rocked, and swearing loudly, "We're out of chargers." They hit a bump and her head went into the roof. "_Ram_ that son of a bitch!"

Yana downshifted and lobbed the speeder over bushes and around trees, trying to catch up. Suddenly, his speeder roared away again and they came out on another road, fishtailing when the airpower tried to get a grip on the dirt. 

After she got control of the vehicle again, she jabbed the accelerator at full speed and slowly closed the gap between them and the other's rear bumper. Right before they got close enough to bump him, another turn showed up in the road. He missed this one as well, but when he plunged through the bushes this time, there was only air in front of him.

Kaila went wide-eyed at the sight of the speeder in mid air and Yana slammed on the brakes, but her speeder skidded off the cliff. The roaring engines quieted. One speeder sailed after the other into the midnight air. Kaila grabbed the door with one hand and the emergency brake with the other. Yana gripped the steering wheel in a voiceless scream, and their entire rebellious lives flashed before their eyes.

They saw it all in slow motion. The speeder ahead of them started to lose its altitude and they followed him only feet behind. The motion of the freefall made their stomach sink. The wind whistled into the open windows. The speeder ahead crashed into the treetops, but now he was meters in front of them. It seemed that they were slowing down, and Kaila wished it were true. The speeder ahead fell into the canopy and burst into flames when it hit the rocks below. Kaila could feel the heat of the explosion on her face and she shut her eyes.

Yana's speeder slowed in the air and came to a complete stop above the canopy. Then it moved sideways at a sluggish pace and lowered into a wide crack in the jungle.

Realizing that they should have crashed by now, both Kaila and Yana opened their eyes again, still frozen in speechless terror to find the speeder lowering gently to a road on the jungle floor until they saw Luke Skywalker's pretty little sportspeeder purring happily in front of them.

Kaila breathed once, and grabbed her heart to get it beating again. Yana was still gripped the steering wheel as if the planet were about to fall out from beneath her. The Jedi Knight jumped out of his speeder and went to them, leaning into Kaila's window. "Are you guys all right?"

Kaila breathed one more time, but other than that, neither one of them could move.

Luke hit the door with his hand to send a loud noise through out the speeder. "Kaila! Yana! Wake up!"

Slowly, stiffly, Yana turned to look at the crashed speeder not fifty feet away, engulfed in flames. Kaila turned her head to Luke and mouthed the words that she couldn't breath enough to speak, "Thank you."

Luke pulled open the speeder door, and pulled Kaila to get out, "C'mon!"

**  **  **  **  **  **  **

Kess was facing Rett down while she waited for Joanne to weed out the last guy. 

Rett still had his hands in the air, but he grinned arrogantly. "You're never going to make it, Kess."

She tightened her grip on the hilt, and adjusted her aim at his neck, "Maybe you haven't noticed that you're losing?"

Rett licked his lower lip thoughtfully and smiled wider, "You're right, I guess I haven't noticed."

Click.

**_CrackBOOM!_**

The shield generator splintered into a thousand tiny pieces chased by a furious fire. The blast knocked Kess hard on her side, her lightsaber went out. Rett had heard the click, quickly sat down, and roll onto his stomach so the blast could roll harmlessly over him. The shard metal of the generator showered the dusty ground and surrounding trees. Kess rolled quickly to look in horror at the quickly calming fire, searching for clues on Joanne's position. Last time she had spotted the woman, she was hiding in the shrubs right next to the generator's base.

While Kess looked, the last of the troopers stepped out of the bushes behind her and raised a long blast gun to the back of her head. Kess sensed him and turn around just in time to see the stun rifle. Blue electricity sizzled over her and the midnight howls of the jungle went silent.

**  **  **  **  **  **  **

The noise of the explosion echoed across the valley. Kaila and Yana looked out from Luke's speeder at the resulting fire at the top of the ridge. Luke couldn't look. He raced down the road faster than they had fallen off the cliff and yelled with growl, "What happened?"

Yana sat sideways in the tiny cargo area behind the seats and tried to pull away the ponytail that whipped in her face without losing her grip on the chairs in front of her, "They blew up the shield generator link."

Kaila spun around after seeing the fire, but looked frightened out to the road in front of them. She whispered voicelessly, "Please don't drive so fast."

Luke charged around a well-known corner and sped up more. "Did they take Kess yet?"

"Not last we saw her." Yana's eyes were staring just as fearful at the road but manage to keep a grip on herself. Luke was taking the corners like a pro. "I like your speeder better."

Kaila nodded in passionate agreement, "I like your speeder better too. Please don't drive so fast."

Luke ignored them. They'd get over their near-death experience in soon enough on their own. He gritted his teeth at the thought of the shield generator now gone and thought about the confrontation that Kess and Joanne must have lost. 

Suddenly dirt road became pavement and he swung around to a usually well-traveled road. Thank the Force it was two o'clock in the morning. He tore through the quiet city until they sped into the quad, zooming passed Complex A but slowing down to stop in front of the complex next door. 

"Get to the Falcon and help Chewie." He told Kaila. "I'll meet you there in a little while."

Kaila blinked at him and then quickly jumped out, running full speed into the gaping mouth of the building. 

The speeder roared back down the street toward the CIC bunker, and Yana grabbed hold of the chair with both hands to keep from falling out. Luke wasn't as calm and as sure as he usually was, and the Jedi Knight not having a peaceful center about the whole thing terrified her. "Tell me we're gonna make it out of this."

Luke yanked on the brakes in front of the council building. "We're gonna make it out of this." He jumped out. Yana scrambled to get out and ran after him.

**  **  **  **  **  **  **

Deep in the forest, where the lush green foliage was crackling with fire and heavy shards of metal had stabbed deep into the trunks of trees, Joanne blinked awake and rolled her body over. Her back crunched onto vines and generator pieces. She gasped for a deep breath and reached weakly for her blaster. Her clothes were charred black on the side from the blast. She deliberately breathed into the night air, knowing full well she was in shock. She listened to the nearby fire and mentally assessed the painful damage on her body. Joanne cursed herself for not finding the charge when she snuck around the generator, and thanked her lucky stars she had coincidentally moved far enough away from the thing not to get herself killed.

She heard voices, and looked up. Still meters from the actual parking lot, and now clothes darkened from the blast camouflaged with her skin, she felt confident enough to pull herself to her knees and crawl close enough to see what was going on.

Rett had Kess' limp body hanging over his shoulder. The other man picked up her lightsaber and handed it to him. Rett waddled to the final speeder and dumped Kess' limp body into the passenger seat.

On her belly, Joanne set her elbows in the ground, and propped her blaster in her hands. Whispering as she aimed with one eye at the trooper she had been looking for. "There you are." With one, sniper-like shot, she struck the man square in the chest.

Rett heard the shot and saw the man go down. His eyes went to the jungle, but he saw nothing but half burning trees. In an instant, he dived into the speeder and tried to start it up.

Joanne dropped the weapon and watched as the speeder charged up, then died, then charged up again and grind to life. He spun around in the parking lot in a panic and sped away to the escape road. Then the roar of the engine faded away. 

Joanne used a tree to help her stand, huddling an arm to her waist. She could hear the sirens of shore patrol rushing to the scene and stepped carefully and slowly out to the parking lot. 

Shards of metal, dead bodies, and severed body parts littered the ground, but she didn't care. Joanne walked towards the mouth of the road, the shock wearing off and the heat of her burns finally registering in her brain, and she stopped just as the speeders of shore patrol came up the cliff and shined their headlights right on her. 

**  **  **  **  **  **  **

Admiral Ackbar's sea green robes flowed like water in his wake. His salmon pink skin was sweating into the silken fabric as he rushed to the other side of the CIC bunker and General Nadine, Lando and Han were already at the holomap, but they all stopped short when the door slid open and Luke rushed in. 

Luke huffed to calm his pant, and went to the map with them, shoving his body sideways between their shoulders. Yana trotted around to the other side where she found a space she could slide through and watch.

The lower half of the map was solid with the slight curve of the jungle moon's surface. The base was lighted with the yellow cubes of buildings, surrounded by brown and green ripple to illustrate the uninhabited surface. Far off to the west was a red line growing slowly in length away from the base. 

Luke put his hands on his hips and watched it. 

Threepio stepped up to Admiral, "The control room reports that they are having some trouble redirecting the shield power to a new generator link." The Admiral bowed his head for a sigh and opened his mouth but glanced at the map just as the line stopped.

Yana was already at the map controls. "They are point four kilometers outside our shield rim, sir. Zooming in to one kilometer range."

Lando held his breath and watched the line grow jagged until the whole scene exploded to one-kilometer range. The smooth surface on the map didn't match the actual terrain, but the now obvious zigzagging told them that drive had come to an end. Within a few seconds, the line stopped again. After one long, breathless, deathly-silent pause, it started to rise off the ground.

Luke hastily stepped around the map base, "Zoom out!" 

Yana was already typing. The scene zoomed out and the line slicked upward with the speed of a ship hitting hyperspace, then stopped cold at the distance of seven parsecs. Luke's eyes narrowed at the alternating map. "They're not going to the battle groups."

Han blinked. He was right. The line's direction, after it had already hit hyperspace, was not going anywhere near the three battle groups the Alliance had their eyes on. Luke spun around to Yana with the order, "I want every possible destination-." 

But Yana had already stepped to the vectorcalc and was reading the results out loud before he was done saying it. "Twenty two parsecs from the Jini'hiaya system." A short pause as it calculated a further distance, "Seven parsecs from Kessel." She paused and watched the text. Luke was already shaking his head at the lack of reasoning why any spy would take Kess to those places.

General Nadine stepped back to the holomap and returned it to its settings before they started following the signal. Admiral Ackbar turned to give Threepio his order.

Luke suddenly felt Yana's heart grow cold and his throat went dry. He narrowed his eyes at her, the woman staring into the tiny view port until the whisper escaped her lips. "Their heading straight for the Core Worlds." She looked at him with overwhelming hope that there was something he could do to stop it.

Unworried, Admiral Ackbar muttered quietly to General Nadine who was watching Luke from the sidelines, scratching his gray beard as he turned away.

Luke's eyes went to the ground, and then closed entirely for a moment of Jedi meditation.


	10. Chapter 32

**Chapter 32**

"Father, this is Shori Ka. Do you read?" Rett stared out at the wavering stars as if he could detect a glimpse of the Imperials if he passed them in hyperspace, checked the transmitter to make sure he was using the right code for the channel, and brought the mike to his mouth again, "Father, this is Shori Ka, the sky is blue. I repeat. The sky is blue. Do you read?"

A crackle sounded before the monotone voice did. "Shori Ka, we read you. Hold."

Rett let out a stiff sigh through his nose and dropped the mike to his lap. He glanced over at Kess as he waited, the woman's head still hanging like her neck was broken. He had her tied up tightly in the five point harness in the copilot's seat, tied her hands behind the high back of the chair, and had her ankles not only tied together, but also secured to the chairs base on the floor. He had no idea what kind of tricks she could pull to get out of her bindings if she awoke, but he figured that, the more he tied her up, the more time he had to knock her out again. 

The next voice that came through was older, angrier, and chillingly evil, "Shori Ka, this is Father, state your condition."

Rett looked out at the stars as he spoke, "Father, the sky is blue. Request to unload, get the bounty and be on my way." He was eager to get to that last part.

"Is she alive?"

 "Yeah, she's alive. Got her with a stun gun." Rett glanced over again, "And I'm anxious to get rid of her before she wakes op."

"Proceed directly to Coruscant and deliver the Usak to-"

"I'll never make it to Coruscant," Rett interrupted. "She won't be out for much longer. I can't hold a live Jedi." He paused a second, lowering his tone, "If you want her, you get her now."

There was a long pause of apprehension, "Did you scan your vessel for homing devices?"

Rett's grin faded, "Yes, sir." It was too late to turn back. He already had her. He would either get the bounty for her now, or not at all. Either way, he was on his way home in short order, as long as he could make the trade. So he really didn't care about the Imperials drastic precautions. He didn't even care who won. He would be long gone when the battle started.

"Very well. Proceed 2.46 parsecs by .75 from Yavin 2. We will give you new coordinates from that point. Out."

Rett hurriedly inhaled to ask about that bounty before the man switched off the link, but let out a sigh as the buzz of white noise flowed out into the air. 

**  **  **  **  **  **  **

The woolen, milk-colored cloak barely warmed Leia's shoulders at nearly four in the morning. The stillness of pre-dawn (and pre-battle) chilled her to the bone all the way into the CIC bunker. Half the council was already there with a full bunker crew already at work at the terminals. She squinted into the dim light to make out faces, and stepped up to the holomap.

 "Lendra was taken about an hour ago," Admiral Drayson reported from its opposite side, "Her signal leads straight to the Core Worlds."

"The Core Worlds," Leia echoed. "Not the battle groups?"

Ackbar spoke in a deeply pessimistic voice. "Those aren't the battle groups that are going to attack, Minister." He gestured to the pinpoints and figures. "I sent out reconnaissance from the nearby systems for a visual confirmation. We just received their findings." Admiral Ackbar's mouth frowned more that it already was. "There's no one out there."

"The satellites still give us a map of three battle groups." General Nadine's old gray eyes were filled with frustration and wrath as he stepped up again. "I'd sure like to know how they altered them to do that."

Leia closed her eyes with a stiff, silent swear, and yanked them open again indignantly. "Then where are they?"

Drayson punch a button on the map, watched, and punched a few more. He gestured yellowed claws at the map. "They could be anywhere."

Yana sat silently at the freq reader, already switched to the preset that would read and calculate Kess' lightsaber pulse. She kept her eyes on it, pretending not to overhear the worry in the council's voices. Every new piece of information seemed to be worse than the one before. Staring at the flat line on the freq reader, Yana's anxiety grew exponentially as the seconds passed.

Mon Mothma showed up and stepped to Leia for a brief report. "Lendra was taken a little over an hour ago heading to the Core Worlds. The visual conformation on those three battle groups came up negative. We have no other satellite data leading us to their present locations. The orbital shield is still down but shore patrol reports we have eliminated all remaining spies on the planet so there's no one here to send them a signal anyway." The discussion went on for several minutes, going more into details than presenting new information, and Mon Mothma's quiet responses seemed to be the only unworried tone in the bunker. 

The bunker crew was combing through data source after data source, trying to scrounge any clues about where the Imperials were, or more importantly, how far away. When the sudden influx of council members had finally calmed, Leia gave a few orders to member of the crew, and stepped aside during the time it would take them to follow it. She gingerly stepped to an even darker corner of the bunker, and met Luke's tired eyes.

He was in his Jedi Uniform with his black cloak around his shoulders. His arms were folded at his chest as his back rested casually against a mainframe. The whites of his eyes seemed to glow out of the ominous shadow of the corner. Leia detected a coldness from him that she was no longer used to. The expressionless face was all too familiar, but now seemed out of character. Leia let out a sigh of a mother's worry. He pulled out something in his hand and gave it to her. 

Leia took it and looked at it. It was a normal commlink. She glanced up at him.

His whisper was rough. "I hate being the one waiting for the news."

Leia gave him a sympathetic smile and uncomfortably looked down at the commlink again. It was still on, and still recording. She jerked it closer. "This thing is recording."

Luke stepped up and took it from her, looking at it. "Yana, you didn't tell me your commlink was recording."

Yana glanced over, "I didn't know."

Luke stepped to the console next to where Yana sat and removed the tiny cartridge from the commlink. He reached to slap it into the drive.

Yana raised a hand. "Uh. Don't."

Leia and Luke both looked at her, "Why not?" Luke asked.

"There might have been a clue of the Imperials whereabouts in any of the conversations she heard." Leia said.

Yana pulled her hand back and looked concerned at Luke. "Sir, I deeply suggest you listen to it privately."

Leia raised a brow. Luke pulled the cartridge out of the drive and ordered Artoo into the conference room. Leia was right behind him when she shut the door.

After he plugged the thing into Artoo, he stood tall at his sister's intrusion.

Leia faced him back, "I'm going to hear about it sooner or later."

_Stubborn_, Luke thought, and motioned for Artoo to play the tape.

They heard the noise of a speeder purring on and the conversation as the women had driven off to Toban Ridge. Leia slowly sat down in a chair. Luke stood behind her, staring at the wall as he listened. The four women argued as they formulated a plan and debated on Rett's intentions, but long before they got to Toban Ridge, Kess' voice had called out above the other noise and told them to shut up. She told each of them exactly what they were going to do and left it at that. Nobody argued and the rest of the trip up the mountain continued in silence. 

The speeder came to stop and the women climbed out, talking again. Kess sounded like she walked away and told someone to go home. Leia silently thanked the woman for getting the innocent out of harm's way. Luke mentally patted Kess on the back when she insisted to Kaila that she didn't kill Rett. 

The voices went silent again and they seemed to be waiting. Then they heard Kaila's voice.

"Kess?"

"Yeah?"

"I'll make you a deal."

"What?"

Kaila paused a log time. Then, "I promise I won't shoot that bastard, if you would finally fuck Luke's brain's out when you come back!"

Luke spun to look at Artoo, lips parted in shock.

Someone hit the roof of the speeder and someone else said, "Oh my."

Then Kess said, rather casually, "I think Jedi Knights are, by their nature, incapable of fucking anybody's brains out."

Luke turned away and put his hands on his hips. "Good answer."

"But I'll try."

Luke shut his mouth with an indignant blink.

Leia cleared her throat, but otherwise remained silent.

When the silence fell again, they could hear another speeder approaching.

Luke slowly sat down in a chair at the end of the table.

 "Cat got your tongue?" Rett said.

Han walked in the door. Leia motioned him to shut the door behind him. 

Kess' voice sounded in the room. "What do you expect me to say?"

Han leaned against the wall and shoved his hands into his pockets.

"You knew." Rett said. "So, that's what you and you' lovey dovey living legend were arguing about this afternoon."

With slow painful movements, Luke buried his face into his palms.

Han glanced at the kid. 

"So why are you here?" Rett said, "Alert Father that his plan has been foiled. Apparently the Rebels know they're coming."

The snap-vroom sizzled through the conference room. There was a scream, then the shooting started. Luke, Leia and Han listened silently at the yelling, at the lightsaber duel between Kess and Rett. They heard Yana and Kaila take off after the other speeder, and eventually the shield generator exploded and a stun gun fired off. They listened as the noises quieted to that inside a racing speeder and moved around again to quite inside a purring transport. The transport took off, and slowly, the hum of hyperspace was replaced by the buzz of static as the comm link sped out of range.

There wasn't a single clue about where they were headed.

Leia glanced over at Luke. He propped his forehead into his loosened fists and let his face fall completely expressionless. In complete silence, Leia stood up and ushered Artoo to leave the room. As she passed her husband, Han pulled his shoulder off the wall. He gave Luke sympathetic glance and stepped out, shutting the door behind him so the Jedi could meditate in privacy.

**  **  **  **  **  **  **

Kess could hear the hum of hyperspace before she opened her eyes. The bridge of the second-rate transport was lighted with emergency yellow flood lamps. Her head ached like a hangover. The man at the helm turned to her before she blinked completely awake.

Rett's mouth was drawn to a thin line and he instantly pointed the stun gun at her face. "Wait!" Kess tried to duck, but her body was tied. As soon as she realized it, she decided not to fight the bindings, "I'm not going to try anything!" she yelled, "Just tell me where your taking me!" She figured that if she could get him talking, about anything, it might give her the chance to find out where they were going and how long they had already been gone.

Rett's mouth went crooked with cynicism and disbelief.

"I have a right to know, Rett!"

He adjusted his grip on the stun gun, "Maybe," he agreed lightly, "but I don't have the right to tell you." He aimed at her again, "You'll find out soon enough," and fired.

The ship shuddered violently and the stun blast went down, skimming her bound legs. Kess cried out at the painful numbing of her feet and calves. Rett ignored her and raised the weapon to the air. He put a flat foot out on the grated floor and looked at the pilot controls, trying to figure out what was going on. 

The ship continued to shake like a heavy earthquake. When Kess saw his face start to panic, she smirked at him, "It's a tractor beam, stupid."

Angry blue eyes sliced through her. 

Kess shrugged, glancing nonchalantly out the window to find any clue on their whereabouts. "It seems we're already here."

A twinkle flashed in Rett's eye for a moment, "We're here," he confirmed. "So, it really doesn't matter whether I stun you or not."

Kess focused on several white slivers far off in the sky. "Then I'll make you a deal, Rett." She counted four large slivers that were probably Star Destroyers, but she couldn't make out the difference between the surrounding dots of support ships against the stars in the backdrop. "If you let me stay awake for this, I promise I will forgive you someday."

Rett kept the stun gun in his hand, just in case, and started to close down the ship's systems to relinquish control to their captors. "No offense, Kess, but I really don't care if you forgive me or not."

Kess squinted harder. There was an overwhelming sense of human presence and yet that battle group she saw was still awfully far away. "Sounds like you getting a lot of money for this," she said casually, anything to keep him talking.

He assured her coldly, "I'm getting enough."

The edges of a docking bay lowered into view of the window and they were slowly swallowed into Imperial territory. The battle group she had been looking at was a different collection. Kess gulped and watched silently. Gray clad docking crews performed the serious side of business as usual and stormtroopers ran out of a corridor, aiming their guns at the tiny ship while it was still landing. Rett didn't wait for the metal to hit the ground before he ripped off his straps. He kept his aim at her ear with one hand and released her feet with the other. Kess listened to the hollow thump as the ship landed.

She cooperated all the way; too busy calculating to want to fight now. She was trying to decide if that other battle group meant that the Imperials had already rendezvoused, trying to sense if this Star Destroyer was in a battle group of its own, and wondering where her lightsaber was. When he finished releasing her, he yanked her out of the chair, slapping the bindings on her wrists again before she had the chance to catch her balance. Kess collected her patience, found her peace, and shut off every emotion she had so that she could perform properly. Rett pushed her around and gouged the gunpoint into her shoulder blade. 

Kess walked forward, seeing the ramp slowly lower in front of her. She had only taken two steps down it when he slammed his fist into her back and sent her diving head first down the grated metal. Her arms twisted to try and catch her fall, but her shoulder slammed against the ramp, the grating dug into her skin through her shirt. She rolled as best she could until she reached bottom, and huddled on her knees, wincing slightly until she looked up. Two rings of stormtroopers encircled her with more than twenty blasters, pointed straight at her head. She let out a tested sigh.

Rett holstered his stun gun as he stepped up behind her, "I'll have my bounty and go," he ordered.

Kess looked out through the crowd at whom he was talking to. An Imperial Admiral with a lightsaber and a smile marched over with armed escorts. "You will get your bounty in due time." The escorts were covered in black armor from head to toe. They looked like a cross between a really complicated stormtrooper and a plain Darth Vader, and they started moving toward her, ready to take over control of the prisoner.

Rett pulled out a bulky blast gun and used both hands to point it directly at Kess' ear. "I'll have my bounty now."

The Admiral paused to stare the man down. The plain Vader's stopped and turned to him for new orders. Rett straightened his shoulders and tightened his mouth in seriousness. The Admiral turned and gestured to his aid, "Get him his bounty," he muttered.

Kess' eyes flicked from one to the other, to the troopers, the Vaders and the gray clad ground crew standing by with scanning equipment. She could easily sense that Rett was scared out of his mind and this Admiral was in no mood for games. He faced Rett down again, and clasped his hands arrogantly behind his back, and hazel gray eyes burrowed evilly into the insubordinate spy. Rett just stared back. They waited for the delivery of his loot for a full breathless minute.

The Force started to prickle in her senses. She watched Cheenan in silence. The man didn't so much as blink when it happened.

The blaster was sucked out of Rett's hands. His eyes went wide as he watched it fly away in from of him. 

_Petaah_! A blast shot echoed through the giant docking bay, but Kess was the only one that jumped. For a split second, she panicked until she realized that she hadn't been hit, and no one around her looked surprised. 

One of the aides standing next to Cheenan caught the blaster out of the air, and a trooper on the far side was lowering his own, Kess twisted on her knees to look at Rett. She found him behind her just as his body crumbled to the ground, dead as a doornail.

Kess couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief and watched the troopers move to drag the body away. As Rett was dragged more into view, she saw the spot where his clothing had burned away and charred black skin oozed blood from his armpit to his hip. She glanced up at the Imperial Admiral and sensed that the man never intended to give Rett the loot in the first place.

**  **  **  **  **  **  **

The small crowd in the CIC bunker had hushed to a tense patience. Most of the military council was alerted to the situation but ordered to stay home and get some sleep. The validity of the two-day window had dissolved, but now they had no idea how long it would take. Two hours? Two weeks? Mon Mothma muttered with Admiral Ackbar at the holomap. Leia flipped through data at a terminal, searching old records for new clues, and Yana sat in wide-eyed, terrified concentration at the freq reader.

Luke sat in a terminal chair swiveled around so he could stare blankly at the holomap. A mass of data was lighted and blinking with an array of primary colors, little red pyramids, blue squares, orange dots, the green and brown ripple of the planet's surface, tiny yellow buildings, and a single red line streaking up into the night sky. 

They had stunned her. He heard it in the recording. And he hoped that they wouldn't keep stunning her or drug her to sleep. She wouldn't be able to send the signal. Luke propped up his elbow and propped his arm on the chair, resting his temple stiffly into his fist. 

Han stepped to Yana and told her quietly that the med lab reported back. Joanne was in bad shape, but she was in stable condition. Without pulling her eyes from the reader, she nodded a thank you to the Captain for checking. Han patted the woman's shoulder and stepped around her, looking at Luke, then stepped over.

"We'll get her back." Han told him, sitting down in the chair next to him.

Luke raised his chin, dropping his fist, but didn't pull his eyes from the holomap.

After watching Luke in silence for a moment, Han uncomfortably looked at his hand, trying to think of what one would say to console a person. A dozen thoughts crossed his mind, but none of them would sound sincere coming from Han Solo. He rubbed his lips together, finally smiled a nervous, cockeyed grin, and said, "You think she'd be willing to baby-sit?"

Luke's head turned to him in annoyance at the attempt. 

Han looked at the floor again.

Luke furrowed his brow, voicing the absurdity of it. "You don't trust her with your ship, but your willing to trust her with your children?"

Han opened his mouth defensively. Then he closed his eyes and exhaled through his nose.

Luke's attitude melted. He knew Han was trying to lighten up on the woman, trying to accept her despite his first impressions, but it was irrelevant at the moment. He looked back at the holomap and continued staring at the little red line.

Han looked at him again, worried about the kid, but realized that his words of comfort had a lot to be desired. He slowly got up and strolled away.

Luke's eyelids dropped and wrinkled a little. He sensed out for any signs in the Force, and clues in his intuition. He felt out for as far as his disturbed power would reach, looking for Kess, for the Imperials, for any hints at all. But the only thing his mental receivers would register was that he still had a very bad feeling about this.

**  **  **  **  **  **  **

Determined, Kess licked her teeth and tried to stand. 

"Where do you think you're going?" 

She was halfway to her feet when he said it. The Imperial Admiral grinned like the feline who had caught his mouse, so Kess smiled back at him as she rose slowly to her feet. "No one's bothered to tell me yet."

This man was richly confident that he had the situation under control and giddishly happy that he'd caught his prey. She took the stare down with the Admiral, feeling less in danger than before, and ignored the escorts that surrounded her closely, but she kept her ears open just in case she'd overhear a clue from some working grunt. She had no idea how long she was out cold in Rett's transport, and therefore had no idea how long she had to fight to stay alive until the Alliance could save her.

Teams worked more behind her than in front of her and she tried to ignore them. She pretended like she didn't care what they were going to do to her and that she wasn't worried if she would ever make it out of this or not, just like Luke taught her to. _There is no death, there is the Force._

"We've detected a signal, Admiral." One of the crew reported, and with only a nod from the Admiral, the Vaders started groping her body, pulling every piece of lint from her pockets. Her commlink came out into a black-gloved hand. 

"It's still on," the technician said, "But it couldn't have more than a 10 parsec range."

Kess died inside. Now she knew that they were more than ten parsecs away (but if they weren't, they'd be in battle already) and she knew that they were less than 24 hours away or the power cell of the commlink would have been drained. Kess put the pieces together as the binders were clipped from her wrists and rubbed her arms with relief. If they were less than 24 hours away, it meant that the Alliance had no clue where they were either. It was a good thing she came.

The Admiral stood less than a meter in front of her as the technicians scanned for more signals. She lowered her eyes wearily and folded her hands together in front of her, acting impatient with the scanning crew.

"We _will_ find the other one," the Admiral assured her. 

Kess eyes flicked up. 

"You knew you were coming," he told her. "You planned it." 

A trooper came to her front and clasped a new set of binders on her wrists. Imperial binders this time, tough metal, thick frames, the palm of one hand fixed to the back of the other, with no room to twist around. 

Kess cooperated, but her confidence sank at the Admiral's words. 

"Your Master wants you conscious for this, so you'll be able to enjoy the walk. And I assure you, I am perfectly capable of containing you."

Kess flinched a little when he said, 'your master', but realized that he must have been referring to Kadaan and not Luke. Something they were doing pinched her wrist for a moment. She reminded herself to ignore it and refused to look down.

He half-turned to a reporting stormtrooper and took her lightsaber from him. He held it casually behind his back, "However, for security measures, I'd like to contain you a little more than just binders. Any fool knows that a Jedi can move small locking mechanisms." Thin teeth flashed deviously at her and he cooed slowly. "But not many realize that a Jedi can't change the molecular structure of solid mass."

Kess raised an eyebrow at him, and when he stepped back to let in a man wearing a welding mask, her stomach started to sink. She heard the firing of a small blowtorch _Kazap_! and then the whistling as it was calibrated for a thin, blue flame. She brought in a deep breath to calm fears. Two troopers held her arms in front of her by her elbows and the welding torch aimed for her binders. She closed her eyes.

_Kazap_! They melted the lock on her binders closed, without a care about her nearby wrists. Her flesh burned and sizzled, and the pain shot all the way to her shoulders. _Kazap_! 

Kess' deep breath came out in a blood-curdling scream.

**  **  **  **  **  **  **

Luke heard the scream as clearly as if she was standing twenty feet away and he gasped at the gut wrenching pain that suddenly hit him through the Force. His sudden reaction called the attention of everyone that was around him. Mon Mothma's orders went silent and Ackbar turned to look at him with concern. 

Luke blinked and rubbed his wrists. They didn't hurt physically, but the split second of searing heat and searing fear had given him enough information to figure out what happened. For a moment, he was raging wrath that they had hurt her, but the anger faded quickly as he realized how well he could hear her voice.

Luke's eyes widened.

Leia stepped up alarmed, having faintly heard and felt the sensation herself. "What was that?"

Luke shook the shiver from his shoulders as he stood up. "They burned her hands." 

Mon Mothma stepped slowly over as well, observing Luke's reaction and his calculations about the incident. 

Luke was staring into the air, "She was close." He concentrated stiffly on the facts and tried to ignore the emotions. "A lot closer than three days away."

Han shrugged, "She only left four hours ago."

Luke spine shivered at the afterimage of her pain and his eyes shut tight, "She wasn't in hyperspace or I wouldn't have felt it at all." His eyes opened and he focused on Leia, "She's already there."

"How far?" Admiral Ackbar croaked.

Luke took in a deep sigh and let it out through an open mouth, his common exercise to find his peace and get down to the business at hand. "I couldn't tell," he glanced at the chronometer, "but less than 4.02 hours minus the 33 minutes of driving time to the launch point."

General Nadine was already calculating attack patterns in his mind. Leia looked at Mon Mothma and, having met her eyes for a moment, Mon Mothma looked at Admiral Ackbar. His giant lower lip stiffened and the fishy smell of Calamarian stress drifted into the air. 

All at once, the council members started moving. Han grabbed a blaster and holstered it, Lando swung the cape around his shoulders, and Luke pulled the cloak's hood over his head. The three marched out of the CIC bunker as tense orders began to fly.

Leia spun around to the Ensign, "Launch the standby groups now."

Ackbar ordered another Admiral, "Send the alert code to the Yavin Eight fleet. Bring around our cruisers to a defense position."

Mon Mothma didn't mutter a word. She turned evenly to a wall console and laid an open palm on the giant, orange-lighted button that said: AIR RAID ALARM.

Dawn had just started to glow light blue on the horizon, but the rest of the sky was still pitch black with night. The disturbing stillness was shattered though as the white street lamps flashed orange and the air raid alarm pierced the silence. **_BZZZT BLAAAH!. . . .  BZZZT BLAAAH! _**

Streetlights and floodlights shined orange with each **_BZZZT_** and switched to a blood red with every **_BLAAAH_. The spine shuddering tone and ear piercing volume could have woken a wampa ice creature out of cryosleep. In the sudden realization of war, the Rebels pounced into action.**

Stev Shorkey blinked awake and patted his wife's shoulder to calm her down. Ashten jumped out of bed and into the first pair of coveralls she found. Neilson hopped to his front door while still trying to tie his bootlace. A young technician and his girlfriend scrambled in the darkness, trying to figure out which clothes were who's. **_BZZZT BLAAAH!… BZZZT BLAAAH!_ **

Seidrik ran down the street while still buttoning up coveralls over his pajamas. Faster bodies dodged him and raced between the small buildings to get to the looming pad Complexes. Wedge pulled his speeder up to the sidewalk to offer rides to anyone that happened to be there. The empty seats were filled instantly and he roared away to their duty stations. The masses thickened as more people tore out of the barracks. Lights in the windows were left on, doors left open. Speeders were left in he parking lot for those already too close to their battle station to worry about the traffic. And the traffic flowed around the complexes and on to the gorgeous green field between them as an emergency parking lot. **_BZZZT BLAAAH!_ **

The shops and diners and offices in the pad cores were empty and dark but the travelways and pads were lit with full-on day. Repair grunts yanked refueling ports to the craft and pilots raced half dressed into the ready rooms. R2 units were loaded, runners sped through the hurried masses, and Commanders shouted out orders to their crew. **_BZZZT BLAAAH!_**

Luke took no notice of Rogue Group's panicked activities and marched directly to the Falcon with Lando and Han at his heals. He'd already told Wedge about his resignation and Wedge would tell the crew during debriefing, after the battle was over. It was best to let the news lie until then. There was nothing Luke could do about it now, so he pounded up the Falcon's ramp without so much as a glance in their direction. 

Han passed him in the cargo bay as the Jedi ripped off his cloak and threw it on the game table. Lando paused to pull off his cape, awaiting the captain's orders, trying to ignore the tension. Chewie was already griping his growls out to Han with grease in his fur and a tool in his hand. 

"Calm down, will yeah." Han whined at Chewie, "She'll only be on this trip and then she's gone. Okay?"

Kaila stormed out of the bridge with her own grease, tools and full attitude. "So I guess you _want_ your ship to fall apart at the seems?"

Han's eyes narrowed at her and he put his on his hips, "Now, don't you start."

Kaila dropped the hydrospanner on the floor just to make a loud, rattling statement. She crossed her arms, shifted her weight onto one foot and set her shoulders at him. "We are never gonna make it in this bucket if you don't let me fix the damned thing."

Han stepped forward at her, pointing at himself and thoroughly insulted. "Are you trying to tell me I did a cheesy job modifying my ship?"

Kaila shrugged at him with a grin, "'Cheesy' isn't the word I was thinking of, but since we're in mixed company."

Chewie curled his lips and growled at her again, his brows tightened in annoyance at her. 

Kaila curled her lip at Han, "Call off your dog."

Chewie's brow furrowed harder and he blatted loudly at her.

Kaila looked him straight in the eye and barked back at him. "_RUFF_!"

Han covered his eyes, "Oh, for crying out loud-"

_"SILENCE!"_

The yell echoed against the bulkheads and all eyes went to Luke, surprised that the traditionally serene and quiet Jedi would suddenly shout out over the noise in such impatience. His mouth was stiff and his words were suddenly quiet again, "Kesselia is out there."

 Han drew in a breath. "Kaila, check the hyperdrive, Chewie warm her up. Lando, ready the upper turret, Luke you take the lower." 

The bodies moved as the orders rolled off his tongue. Luke bowed a sarcastically cocked head at Han, "Thank you."

**_BZZZT BLA-_**

Everyone in the Control Tower looked at the air raid light when the noises had stopped. The Commander pressed the headset to his ear. "All groups have reported in. Air raid alarm is secured. Proceed to launch the fleet, aye." He let go of the headset, and rolled out the next set of orders to his own crew. "North launch Gray." The Lieutenant commanding the north side of the tower typed and mumbled orders into his mike. "South launch Rogue. West launch Green. . . ." The traffic controllers spoke into their mikes and started typing as soon as they were given the go. Fighters rose into the air in pairs, waited for their flock to muster with them, and in perfect formation, shot vertically into the early morning light.


	11. Chapter 33

**Chapter 33**

Kess had kept her eyes slammed shut for most of the walk despite her frantic efforts to keep them open and see where they were going. Her arms felt like they were still on fire and the raunchy smell of her own burnt flesh clung to her nostrils. The pain was too dense for her to sense anything else, but she managed to keep her ears open for clues on the pending rendezvous. 

The black armored escorts flanked her every corner and the Admiral strutted behind the entourage into the lift. Silence fell when the doors closed, none of the six people were talking anyway, but now they didn't have the surrounding crewmembers to bother them either. As the lift pulled them up, Kess took advantage of the silence and relaxed her shoulder muscles. She reached inside and found her peace and reminded herself that she could go home and make love to Luke as soon as the whole thing was over.

A hand slapped her shoulder along with a stiff command, "No meditating."

Kess shot an annoyed glare halfway in the Admiral's direction, but raised her chin and faced forward confidently. In no time, the burning of her wrists flared into her conscience and she gathered enough courage to look at them to review the damage. She bowed her head as if looking at the floor in boredom and immediately saw the array of thumbprint sized blisters on the inside of her right forearm. On the back of her left forearm were fewer but larger blisters, some as big as her lightsaber's power cell and they surrounded a two inch long, bleeding, black-flaking gash on the back of her wrist.

Kess swallowed hard, leaned slightly over to one of the escorts at her side and asked casually, "Can I get some ice?"

The Admiral's hand slapped her shoulder again, "No talking, either."

The doors slid open as she pulled her lips closed.

The Admiral didn't respond and the escorts pushed her onto the bridge of the Star Destroyer. Kess reviewed the area, calculating any possible escape. There were three doors and an open corridor on each side, and a sunken pit of terminals was in the center where the low ranking bridge crew carried out the Admiral's orders. Other than that, she couldn't find any clues as to where she was or how she could get out. 

The escorts stopped her center rear of the pit and the Admiral peeled off with a series of fast orders to various people. "Prepare the med room," Was one, and Kess' stomach went nauseous at the thought of true Imperial torture. "Tighten the group formations." Was another, but he didn't indicate the number of groups or formations. As Kess watched him march to a side door out of the corner of her eye, he leaned toward a Commander, "Send the rendezvous signal," was his last order before he disappeared.

Kess instantly closed her eyes and her thoughts looked for her lightsaber. The hilt jogged back and forth as the walking Admiral swung his arm in a perfect march through the room. Kess bit her lip and hurried to flip the switch deep inside the handgrip, but a blaster poked her shoulder.

"No meditating."

Her eyelids tightened before she opened them again, cussing at failure, and snarled at the guard. "I had something in my eye," she whined impatiently.

A cloud gray uniform passed her then, hissing the words, "Rebel scum."

A smile flashed across her face and her evilly happy voice sang out, "_Yeah, but _**_we're__ winning the war!_"**

All motion in the ridge stopped for a moment. Those that glanced at her snarled, and another guard poked her hard in the kidney with his blaster. "No talking," he grunted through the black helmet.

Kess zipped her lips like guilty fourteen year old and tried to contain a giggle. She was certain insanity was going to set in before she even got to Kadaan because the humor she could scrounge was the only pleasant distraction from the glowing pain in her arms. 

The Admiral stepped out of the door and motioned the guards to bring her in. Her laughter sobered.

The ready room was as gray as the bridge, polished floor, metal walls, and hard corners. A single man occupied it before they marched in, and when the cloaked figure turned around, Kess got her first look at Supreme Prophet Kadaan.

The stocky figure was no taller than she. He had large facial features, intense royal blue eyes and bright yellow thinning hair. His round nose wrinkled as he looked at her, then smiled short teeth as he strolled up to her, evilly pleased. "You have the color of stubbornness about you," he said in a low voice, like it was trying to sound evil but his vocal chords wouldn't naturally go that deep. "But I suppose it was your stubbornness that made it so difficult to obtain you." He turned away, strolling slowly back to his perch in front of the giant window. "You are Lieutenant Kess Lendra, Jedi Apprentice. Are you not?"

Kess met the man's stare, but said nothing.

Cheenan punched her in the shoulder blade. "Answer him."

Kess tightened her lips and tried to speak through them, "But you told me not to talk."

Cheenan slapped the back of her head hard enough that a handful of hair flew in front of her eyes. 

Kess swallowed her annoyance and straightened her shoulders. "I am," she breathed reluctantly.

Kadaan smiled, "Stubborn," he nodded wisely. "It runs thick in females." He paused in front of the window, gazing out at the stars, "But I can train that out of you. Jedi Skywalker apparently hasn't succeeded."

_Luke wouldn't try_, she defended in her mind. 

"But there are a great many things he has failed to teach you. A great many things he had failed to _tell_ you." Ocean blue eyes flicked to her, "But then Skywalker has always been full of secrets." He turned toward her and shrugged, "All Skywalker's are. It is in their blood line." 

Kess kept on his eyes, and kept her mind on her emotions. She concentrated, trying to trip the signal from the lightsaber in Cheenan's hand.

Kadaan strolled around her, trying to sound like a mere acquaintance with juicy gossip. "Did he ever tell you why his father turned to the dark side?"

Kess brought in a tiny gasp through her nostrils, but quickly realized that it only made sense the Empire would know that Vader was his father.

"Oh," his eyebrows rose, "You didn't know?" Kadaan tried to milk it for everything it was worth. "He never told you that he is the son of the Lord of the Sith?"

Her voice was quiet, "He told me." _There. There it is. In Cheenan's hand. Behind his back._

"And did he ever tell you why his father turned?"

Kess whispered stiffly, "He doesn't know." _The switch. Concentrate. There is no passion, there is peace. Get the switch. _Rock strong fingers grabbed her face, her eyes hardened, her cheeks squished between her teeth. 

"The dark side is very powerful." Kadaan hissed slowly letting go of her face, "It can give you everything you want and then some." He strolled over to Cheenan and held out his hand. 

Cheenan pulled his hand from behind his back, and put her lightsaber in Kadaan's out-stretched hand.

Kess' eyes shifted with him, and pulled back her thoughts.

"It can get you the galaxy," he continued. "Whole planets for you to use as you please. Governments will bow to your every whim." He paused, looked her lightsaber over and ignited it, pointing the lethal tip at her nose. "Ah, but you're not interested in those things are you?" He waved it back and forth slightly as he stepped closer to her, bringing the glowing amber just inches from her face. "No, you're a Jedi. Of course. You're interested in peace, yes? Family? Love? You're lightsaber?" His head twisted, "Why are you so interested in your lightsaber?"

She hardened her stare passed the blade.

Kadaan turned it off again and stomped to her. Deep blue eyes narrowed on her, his mouth stiffened and twitched and then his eyes drifted closed. Kess felt the prodding and slammed her eyes shut to send up a mental block. She put up as much of a brick wall as she could, but her Force seemed transparent against the black tendrils of evil that wisped through her mind. They poked at her conscience, groped at her emotions, and plucked her calculations right out of her mind.

The dark tentacles slithered away, and Kess was panting on her knees when she opened her eyes again. She looked up.

Kadaan towered over her, unscrewing the end cap from her lightsaber's hilt. "Admiral," he said, peering into the casing as he stepped away. "Would you please have our engineers find out what type of signal this would transmit," he shoved the hilt to Cheenan with one hand, and then shoved the separated power cell with the other. "And then have the auxiliary fleet transmit the signal from _their_ location."

The Admiral smiled evilly, gave the Prophet a quick bow, and hurried out of the room.

"So it seems that your fleet is waiting for a signal, isn't it Kess?" he cooed, bringing his voice down low again. "When we reach Yavin 4, your battle groups will be halfway to the Outer Rim looking for you."

Kess bowed her head, screaming, swearing, and crying inside. 

The black cloak rippled as he laughed at her. "I did not think you would kneel to me so quickly. This is going to be easier than I thought." He glided around on the floor, returning to his throne, and rested his arms casually on the rests. "Don't worry, my dear child." Kadaan's oiled words slithered from his lips. "You will be quite safe. I am going to take vary good care of you."

Kess pulled herself to her feet again. The shock from her burnt arms was beginning to wear off and a raw flame licked her imagination, pulling her concentration. "Yes," she whispered in agreement, "You have certainly blown me away with your hospitality."

Kadaan's short teeth smiled at her again. "At least you will live." He jerked his head in the direction of the wide stretching window. "You're friends won't. My auxiliary fleet will send your signal from a minefield in the asteroid belt. That will take care of your navy. And this fleet carries with it the prototypes for some very interesting technology in chemical warfare. Only a few missiles and we can kill every living organism within a fifty-kilometer range, without damaging so much as a datapad of the Alliance's equipment and confidential files. When we reach your Yavin base, all I need to do is fire a few missiles and wait for the smoke to clear. . . . The flesh of every being within a hundred kilometers will instantly rot away, but not one building, droid, or datacard will be damaged."

Kess was sick of this already. She didn't believe his bragging about cool weapons and devious plans. Most of what he said went in one ear and out the other anyway, but there was one thing she had to ask. "Why me?" 

Kadaan lowered his chin at her.

"Why me?" She repeated indignantly, "Do you expect to turn me to the dark side? Do you want me to be your little right hand bitch? What makes me so special for you to go so far out of your way?"

"A combination of both actually. I've not trained a female before, so this should prove interesting. I do intend to turn you," he shook his head, "But not yet. Not now. I have more important concerns at the moment, and I _don't_ need your help to win this battle."

She shrugged at him, "Why me though? Why not Luke? He's so much stronger than I-"

Kadaan's eyes went cold and his tone dropped, "Master Palpatine has already attempted to turn Skywalker himself. I am not so arrogant, or disrespectful, to think that I would succeed in a task that my Master could not. Besides, I do not trust Skywalker."

Kess almost laughed at him, "And you think you can trust me instead?"

"Lord Vader turned against Master Palpatine, his son would surely turn against me in time. He's not worth the trouble or the risk. But you. . . ." Kadaan smiled again, pushing himself from his chair. "I trust your reactions," he said gently. "I know exactly how you manipulate you, _precious_."

Kess sucked in air through her nose.

His iron fist rapped backwards across her cheek. Her face whiplashed to the side, and blood trickled from the corner of her mouth. Her laugher stopped and her eyes drilled into him.

Kadaan chuckled wisely at her reaction. "You see? I can already bring out the anger in you."

**  **  **  **  **  **  **

"Hello!" Yana suddenly sat up straight. "There it is. There it is." The council members flocked around her as her hands adjusted the settings. She got a lock on the signal, the line squiggling across the screen like the heartbeat of a terrified rabbit. Yana stuttered out the readings. "Ah, it's the right frequency. Vector 2.76 by 4.66 by .32. Distance: 49 parsecs."

 As the location sputtered out of her mouth, the data was punched in. A single, three dimensional star blipped onto the holomap. It was nowhere near the three ghost groups either.

Leia had spun around to shout out the orders, but her words stopped cold. Her mouth closed. She met Mon Mothma's eyes.

Then Leia wrinkled her forehead at Yana. "_Forty nine_ parsecs?"

Yana checked at rechecked the reading. "Yes, Chief Commander. Exactly forty nine parsecs away." She glanced up at the map in vague understanding why the council hadn't started moving yet.

General Nadine punched number into the map. "If she had left going that direction, the transport was in top shape, top speed, and top of the line. . . ." he punched in his estimates and stepped backward when another symbol popped up.

Leia jerked her head like the thing tried to get into her nose. 

"She would have only been able to get _fifteen_ parsecs away." Nadine said. He put his hands on his hips and turned to Mon Mothma, "Either a Star Destroyer's short wave guns really did spike, or they figured her out already and it's a decoy. There's no way that she could have gotten _that_ far, _that_ fast."

Leia's lips tightened into a crooked smile, "Either way, someone has to be out there to transmit the signal."

Mon Mothma's eyebrow rose. She thought for a minute and stepped away. "Lieutenant, put me on a coded channel with the Yavin 8 fleet, please."

**  **  **  **  **  **  **

At Kadaan's order, the glossy-black armored guards had returned to her sides and shoved her back out to the bridge. Kadaan stepped away to tend to other matters with Cheenan, and Kess immediately went to work. She kept her eyes open so no one would notice, and her anger controlled so she could sense well enough to succeed. 

She directed her attentions to the bridge crew. A few seconds inside the eyes of one and she moved to another, and another, until she found the low ranking officer that stared at the weapons systems readout. From there, her thoughts moved to the actual console, digging into the metal chassis itself, finding the electronic signals blinking in nanosecond pulses. It took seriously complex and quick calculations to understand what she was looking at, but caught on quickly as she translated what she saw in her Force senses into what she usually saw on a freq reader. From there, it made sense. 

Kadaan half turned, getting ready to walk over to her again, but paused to speak again.

Kess hurried without panicking. She embedded her mind into the gold traces on the computer board, skipped over superfluous resistors and capacitors. She passed up a memory array, found the sync signal to the recharge activator and raced as fast as the signals did down the electrical path. 

Kadaan stepped away, asking a Lieutenant, "Is the med room prepared?"

Kess' mind sped through a conduit and paused on a switchboard. A split second delay to figure out which way to go from there, and she was off again. The task became easier as she went along. She imagined that it was a tiny version of herself, flying through the electronics of the Star Destroyer. She was actually starting to enjoy the new point of view, when her sights came upon the recharge unit of the short wave guns.

Kadaan stepped up to her, already suspecting something.

Kess didn't shift her eyes. She concentrated while staring at the floor of the bridge. The power connector looked ten feet tall, the recharge unit was the size of the pad complex and the gold trace was as wide as a road. The recharge unit was one of the new Latham designs, with which she was barely familiar, but trons were trons, she had always said. She gave the system a good once over and proceeded directly to the power connector. 

Kadaan closed his eyes in front of her, but her thoughts had fled so far from the bridge itself, he could not tell what she was concentrating on. Something on a berthing deck, but that was as much as he could sense. So he just stopped her instead, and slammed his thoughts over hers.

Kess winced slightly, but she was much to focused to back out now. She pulled the wire from the power connector, moved it slowly over to the recharge unit, and jammed it between the leads. Kess backed her thoughts away, watching the pieces shrink back to their normal size, and the tiny spark fly from the sudden short that she had created. 

With that, she gave in under Kadaan's mind probe and buckled under the strain.

**  **  **  **  **  **  **

"Minister Solo, Minister Solo." The urgency of Threepio's voice wasn't unusual, so Leia didn't turn from her conversation immediately. 

But Lieutenant Deitrik had the same urgency in her own voice. "Princess Leia!"

Leia spun around, the impatience faded into horror as her eyes fell on the signal from the freq reader. "Another signal?"

Yana grinned as she adjusted the setting. "Yes, ma'am. Vector 5.67 by 4.87 by 0.23."

Mon Mothma was there too, "Distance?"

"11.34 parsecs, Chief Commander." Yana announced. 

General Nadine had passed the women and typed deteriorating voltage. Leia turned to the holomap, Ackbar and Mon Mothma stepped up with her, staring into the hologram in complete suspense at where the Imperials would show up. Nadine punched the enter key with a hard tap. Instantly, another three-dimensional red star appeared just inches outside Yavin 4 orbit, directly above the line where Kess' commlink signal had stopped.

The activity in the CIC bunker exploded, and the information was shouted into a dozen different mikes to a hundred different people.

**  **  **  **  **  **  **

Han suddenly stopped talking and pressed the headpiece closer to his ear. His other hand moved quickly and flipped on the speaker so the others could hear the report as well.

Admiral Ackbar's serious tone rattled off the vector and the distance. Kaila recorded the numbers into the navcomputer as they sounded out. Luke slowly leaned forward, listening intently to the following approach pattern and glanced at Han when the report was over.

"They're only an hour away." Lando noted.

Chewie hooted a report, 'all weapons loaded, all systems go.'

Han swiveled to face front in his chair, "Everybody strap in." Lando nodded and left. Luke pulled the five-point harness around his shoulders, thanking the Force that the wait was finally over.

"That's it." Kaila said, returning to the back seat. "Navcalc is set."

Han flipped off the speaker and listened to the headset as the Rebels reported their hyperspace jumps. In large groups, fighters and cruisers disappeared from the sky in front of them. Han raised his fingers to the console and called to Chewie. "Hit it!" he called out, and yanked down on the lightspeed throttle.

**  **  **  **  **  **  **

Kess was shoved into a room and a dozen armored gloves grabbed her body from every direction. Her eyes flew open when her legs were pulled from beneath her and she watched in helpless horror as six stormtroopers violently dropped her on a plastic covered mattress, immediately proceeding to strap her down. Kess saw the white walls and portable medical gear. She saw needles and tubes and stainless steel and rubber gloves and then she saw the sickly happy Admiral step eccentricity to her bedside.

The panicking fear in her expression mutated into a bullheaded attitude. She glared up at him, struggling against the straps.

Cheenan shook his head, glanced over to the doctor when the man walked in, and turned back to her with a chiding grin, "This will only take a minute."

A med droid came to her other side and jabbed a needle into her arm. A tube began to fill with blood. Kess watched a human doctor preparing for an operation and two of the stormtroopers started cutting off her pants with shears. "What are you doing?!"

The Admiral chuckled a little.

"The test came up positive, sir." The droid reported.

She tried to lift her head to see, but firm hands instantly slammed the effort down. She dropped her head back on the operating table and closed her eyes. She felt the cold blades slide along her thighs to her waist. The chilly air sent shivers on her bare legs as they pulled the black cloth of her Jedi Uniform away. Then they cut away her underwear. She was naked from her hips to her ankles.

_Find your peace. There is no emotion there is serenity. There is no death there is the Force._

The armored fingers pressed into her skin and bent her knees, then tied her ankles to the stirrups and held her knees apart.

_There is no passion there is peace. There is no fear there is no pain. Luke, where are you?_

Plastic covering fingers poked her and she jumped, but the restraints held her securely and the stormtroopers tightened their grip on her knees and her shoulders. Icy cold metal slid inside her, pinching skin she didn't know she had. There was a quiet click and the intrusion slid away again. 

Kess was shaking with anger. Violation boiled in her blood. She wanted to slam the Admiral's throat shut and watch him die slowly of suffocation. But the troopers let go of her knees and threw a sheet over her hips. She looked up again and saw the doctor tossing away at a small empty beaker.

The med droid placed a unit on her arm and a tiny needle from it shot into her vein and stayed there. She tried to remain still so that the needle wouldn't rip her skin while it took its reading.

The doctor looked at the droid. "How are her HCG levels?"

"Forty two and holding sir." The droid said.

The Admiral suddenly looked eagerly to the doctor and the droid. The doctor assured Cheenan. "Don't worry, Admiral. We can do this as many times as necessary until it works."

Kess couldn't decide whether to hope it worked or hope it didn't. She fought inwardly to calm herself down. She reached deep into her soul, deep into her memory for a snap shot of Luke's happy smile to cling to keep herself sane. _There is no anger, there is serenity._

The droid spoke mechanically, "Forty six. . . forty eight. . .  and rising steadily sir."

The doctor nodded, "It worked, Admiral."

Admiral Cheenan gave Kess an excited, toothy smile, "Congratulations, Kess. You're going to be a mother."

She held the snarling glare until he actually left the room. The doctor, droids, and stormtroopers were cleaning her up from the event, but now that stuff didn't bother her all that much. Kess' mouth tightened, her eyelids wrinkled and she started wonder if she would lose her battle against the dark side before the battle even started. 

**  **  **  **  **  **  **

Luke folded his hands together on his lap, crossed his ankles on the base of the targeting box, and relaxed in the chair of the lower gun turret. He stared out at the star streaks flying by and found his peace by touching on a happy memory.

Luke stepped into the tiny berthing compartment to find Kess dressed for bed already. Skintight exercise pants stopped just below her knees and a tank top hung loosely on her shoulders. She lay on her stomach in the lower bunk, bare calves and feet rocking back and forth in the air and upper body propped on her elbows while she read one of his books. "You mean he lived on Tatooine that whole time?" She suddenly asked him.

Luke paused for a moment before opening his locker, then squinted, "Who?"

Kess stressed the man's nickname, "_Old Ben_ Kenobi."

A smile flashed across Luke's face. "As far as I could tell." He pulled open his locker and started getting ready for bed himself, which, with her in the room, meant simply pulling off his shoes, socks, and shirt. Period.

She squinted at the datapad again and then shook her head, tossing it aside. "I can't figure out what to believe." She rolled onto her back and sighed. "Every story contradicts the rest, and now Dad's changed his." She blew up at her bangs.

Luke nodded sympathetically at her before hopping up to the top bunk. The metal frame creaked at the sudden shift in weight. Kess flipped off the light with the Force while Luke settled under the blanket. Wide-awake silence hung in the air for a moment, then the Force started to tingle on his skin.

He blinked in the darkness, a smile crossed his lips, and he reached a hand out in the air just in time to catch the pillow as it sailed toward his head. Kess started to giggle at him, but he gathered the soft cloth in his fingers and yanked it out of her grip. Now he had both pillows.

Her head popped up beside his bunk, blonde hair ruffled across a perturbed face. 

He shoved the second pillow under his ear and grinned arrogantly, "You shouldn't have thrown it at me."

She blew the hair from her face and disappeared again. Luke listened to her flop back into her bed and try to get her head comfortable without a pillow. When her movements stopped, she sighed. 

Luke pulled out the pillow and swung it fast and furious into her face. 

_Phut_. 

"Awe, man," she whined. 

Luke rolled to his back and chuckled at her.

"You awake?" Kaila's voice shattered Luke's imagination. He swiveled around to see her lying on the ladder well behind him and propping her head comfortably on her hand. "Skipper's been trying to get you on the comm," she said.

Luke pointed at the headset, still hanging on the wall, "I haven't plugged in yet. What does he want?"

"He wants to run through the rescue plan one more time." Her voice softened, "He doesn't seem to like the idea of you going in there by yourself."

Luke shot her a sideways glance and grinned a little as he reached for the headset. He met Kaila's shy smile and pressed in the earpiece. "Han? I know the plan already. You land, Kaila busts the hatch, I go in and get her, and we take off. How complicated can it be?"

"It can get _really_ complicated." Han retorted. "We are talking about boarding a Star Destroyer in the midst of battle. You don't think your just gonna stroll in there do yeah?"

Luke grinned, "You would."

"C'mon kid, let me go with you. Chewie can fly this thing-"

"Han," Luke interrupted, "The less people that leave this ship, the less people we risk losing."

Han's gave in, "All right, all right, I'll shut up. But keep in mind, that if all else fails, we can just disable the ship she's on and go get her after the battle is over."

Luke nodded patiently, "If all else fails," he assured. "What's our ETA?"

There was a short pause as Han checked, and then Luke heard the buckles start clinking on the pilot's chair's straps. "Five minutes." 

Kaila heard it and backed up on the ladder well again, "May the Force be with you." She told him, and scrunched up at the gravity shift node to climb up instead of upside down.

Han's voice sounded casually over the comm. "Let's lock and load."

**  **  **  **  **  **  **

Kess felt years older. She walked with her head bowed in barely contained anger. When she was spoken to, she glared evilly back. She ignored the hissing of passerby's for the most part, but what was left of her sense of humor wondered if these idiots were just too stupid to think of anything else but 'Rebel scum' to call her.

They took her directly to the bridge and stayed center rear until called for. Kess stared at a spot in the air in front of her, her mouth drawn tight, and hair falling slightly into her face, and she pretended not to notice, or at least not care, about the increase of activity among the bridge crew.

"Delta squadron, pull up point two and fall in a Kavek formation with the Vengeance," one said.

"Zack detail; report your weapons status," said another.

Admiral Cheenan mumbled to one of his officers and dashed to another, mumbling more. Kess listened to the reports and sensed the tension and saw hundreds of TIEs of various models forming up in front of the Destroyer. 

No buts about it, they'd rendezvoused.

Kess stared evilly out of the window of the bridge through long, misplaced locks of hair. Standing there in the blue hospital pants the stormtroopers slid onto her legs and the tails of the black shirt of her Jedi Uniform hanging awkwardly down her hips, she looked beaten. Her forearms were blackened with burns and her wrists bound in front of her with the steal binders. Her tense anger nearly overflowed as she stared at the fleet around them. The row of Star Destroyers stretched out in both directions surrounded with TIE fighters, and all pointing in the direction of home. Yavin 4 was a tiny green knot among white speckled stars. It couldn't have been more than a few hours away. 

Kess' heart sank into her stomach. Luke would have been here by now.

Kadaan marched in from a side room and wordlessly reached out a hand to Cheenan. The Admiral handed over Kess' lightsaber without breaking his concentration from the duties of organizing the rendezvous. Kadaan stepped into his chambers holding the lightsaber casually from his hand among his dark robes. 

Kess' eyes narrowed in on the lightsaber, brought her emotions to a rigid peace, and mentally flicked the switch inside the hilt several times.

**  **  **  **  **  **  **

Yana turned around quickly, "Another signal, Minister."

Leia stepped up to the holomap and typed as Yana read aloud, "Vector 5.67 by 4.86 by 0.23. Distance 11.32 parsecs. All eyes were on the map, now littered with more data, the red line, the signal from forty-nine parsecs, the signal from eleven parsecs, and the moving green blob representing the Alliance fleet already on their way.

Yana's voice pierced the suspense. "Another signal. Vector 5.67 by 4.86 by 0.23. Distance 11.32 parsecs." 

As she spoke, the first reading popped up on the map, millimeters from the signal the fleet was already heading to. The red dot got bigger and brighter as Yana continued to report signal after signal in the exact same place. Leia's eyes hardened at the red dots and the approaching red blob, and whispered, "We're coming, Kess, we're coming."


	12. Chapter 34

**Chapter 34**

As soon as Admiral Cheenan got the opportunity to do so, he went to Kess and flashed a smile, but he passed her by without a word and disappeared into Kadaan's chambers.

Kadaan stepped out smoothly, dragging his robes elegantly on the floor and waved the stormtroopers away from her. "Come my child." He said lovingly, and strolled slowly to the front of the bridge. He gestured a hand at an officer as he passed, "Ready my shuttle."

Kess didn't move until a blaster was poked at her back. In annoyance, she obeyed and followed Kadaan to the Admiral's chair. 

He stepped over to the window and gloated over his fleet, waving a grandiose hand at his Imperial Legion, "Were are stronger than ever before."

 Kess looked out over the fleet to the small moon not so far away and wondered if she would be able to see the Alliance ships coming or not.

"Relax. You are on the safe side. Your friends will be dead, regrettably, but you will live. I'm going to take very good care of you." Kadaan didn't look at her, when he muttered it, "You are Cheenan's woman, after all."

Angry brown eyes shot to the man. She hated Kadaan with everything she had. And he stood there gloating with pride over his success. He was proud of his fleet, proud of capturing his prisoner, and all out eccentric about the fun he was about to have with the two put together.

Cheenan stepped to his chair and sat down. "It's time, Master Kadaan."

"We'll ride into orbit with you." Kadaan raised an arrogant nose into the air, "I want to see the effectiveness of our chempods."

 Cheenan nodded, "Yes, Master." Then called behind him to his crew, "All hands calculate navcomp." His order was echoed by another as it was passed on to the rest of the fleet.

Kess stared out into the stares beyond the TIEs, stared out at the small knot in the sky that was Yavin 4. Her peace was crumbling, her faith was diminishing, and her serenity had all but disappeared. The Force prickled on her skin.

Cheenan received more data and called out again, "Prepare for lightspeed."

"Prepare for lightspeed," his order was echoed again.

Kess' eyes watered as she stared out the window. The masses would pelt Yavin 4, killing everyone she tried to save by coming here. But it felt like there was a light at the end of the tunnel. A star was growing brighter in the Force. 

Kadaan smiled faded as he turned to the window to study the night sky. 

And then the stars started to move.

Kess' focus hardened and the corners of her mouth curled upward.

"Admiral, we have multiple collision alerts. There's something blocking the path to Yavin 4."

Admiral Cheenan's face turned around to the officer, his smile vanished and he turned to the window again. His thoughts clicked wildly in his mind, then his grip tightened on the arms of his chair just as another officer reported, "Multiple enemy targets directly ahead." Kadaan stepped closer to the window, total wrath reflected back to Kess. 

The stars seemed to shoot straight at them from the glittery backdrop. The population of Imperials barely had time to blink before the onslaught.

The entire Alliance fleet came out of hyperspace within a single second of each other. The mass of Rebels faced the mass of Imperials one to one, drawing a long battle line in space and immediately let loose on the guns. Mon Calamarian cruisers were firing onto Star Destroyers as soon as their images came clear in front of them. X-wings appeared nose to nose with TIE fighters and took up chase. The Rebellion's larger ships stared down each Star Destroyer, blocking the path to Yavin 4 and attacking immediately.

Kess let out a laugh and Kadaan lost his temper. One fist went into Kess' mouth as the other brought around her lightsaber. She fell to the floor with more blood at her lip, but she was still laughing at him. 

The panic could be seen in Cheenan's frantic motions. He shot out of his chair, and yelled it at the top of his lungs. "Fire!"

Kadaan stopped forward and flicked on the weapon, ready to stab the blade into her throat, but the amber blade reached out about four inches and sank back into the hilt. Its power cell was completely drained from the repeated signals. Kadaan looked at it with wide eyes, but as he did, Kess reached her hand out and sucked Cheenan's lightsaber off his belt until it fell into her hand. She did a rolling back flip on the floor to land on her feet, and fired up the blue blade. 

Her eyes sparkled at Kadaan. "You were saying?"

Kadaan threw her lightsaber away from him, anger seething from his teeth, and pulled his own red bladed lightsaber from his robes. 

With playful, wildcat energy, X-wings dove into groups of TIEs and took up chase with whoever was in their sights. Moving in flowing formation, the Y-wings shot electric-blue proton lasers at the Star Destroyers to disable their shields and A-wings zipped passed behind line to pound lethal pellets into the shield generators. Bubbly shaped Mon Calamari cruisers, hammerhead blockade runners, and skinny Corellian battleships held their ground in front of the destroyers, firing all at once at point blank range.

Han was waiting for Luke's report and was killing time close to the Star Destroyers by taking out as many Imperials as he could. Luke fired at any TIE that happened to be in front of him, but spent the time between convenient shots trying to detect which vessel she was on. He could faintly detect her out there, but it was hard to keep focus with so many high stress emotions flowing around. 

Looking out the lower gun turret, the Falcon sailed over the battle line. Over ten Alliance capital ships faced down as many Star Destroyers, throwing shots into each other's hulls in a chicken fight of who would die first. From a distance, the dark, black holes in the Force of Kadaan and Cheenan were canceling out her light enough to prevent any clear signs showing Luke where she was.

Luke closed his eyes and concentrated. The flitting thoughts filled his senses like a loud white noise. He pushed it aside and focused above it, calling out to the Force, "_Kess_."

Cheenan was shouting out orders to the fleet, and the arms of the crew in the pit were flying across the consoles. Kadaan stared Kess down and brought his blade to crash against hers. With the binders on, and the back of one wounded arm tied to the front of the other wounded arm, she could barely keep her grip on the hilt. 

Kadaan stepped forward, trying to corner her until the guards could make it across the bridge and shoot her with a stun gun at point blank range, but Kess pulled her arms away, and separated her wrists as far as the binders would let her. With one swift, brave move, she brought the binders down on the tip of red blade until it sliced through the joint of the binders and her hands separated. She adjusted her grip to hold the lightsaber hilt firmly, now wearing two half-melted bracelets.

The stormtroopers came up quickly from the side and Kadaan was in front of her. Kess brought her blade hard against his to get him to firm his position, and pulled back immediately to duck under his blade and dash out of the corner. The troopers stopped and aimed, but paused that Kadaan would have caught the missing shots. Kess hopped on top of the terminals in the pit, then bare feet danced down to the row to get passed the troopers. One of the data technicians stood up from his chair and grabbed for her feet. She jumped out of his reach and over him until both bare feet hit the floor. The officers in the pit shot out of their chairs for her, the troopers shooting stun blasts at the pit, hitting several of their own crew. 

Kess took one look at the short stairs out of the pit and the open elevator doors behind them. She ducked and ran.

Cheenan shouted orders to the officers to get back to their duties, the troopers raced across the floor to the elevator, and Kadaan slashed his way through the troops, killing two of them in the process. He saw Kess slide into the elevator and spin around, hitting the control. Then, as the doors slid closed, she smiled at him from behind the blue blade, and waved, "Bye, bye."

Furious, Kadaan let out a battle cry and stabbed at the closing doors. Kess pressed her body against the back wall and watched the blade come within inches of her face. As the elevator started to lower, the blade sliced a slow gap in the doors and finally through the roof. Kess' eyes followed the blade as she left him on the bridge and let out a breath.

_"Kess? Where are you?" _

It felt like he'd whispered it into her ear and the sound of his voice washed over her with renewed hope. _"Luke!"_ she screamed in her mind, _"Luke! I'm on the Vengeance. Luke!"_

The doors opened as she screamed and a dozen stormtroopers were already waiting for her. She brought up the blade and blocked several shots, then stepped forward to slash her way out of the elevator.

Luke's eyes flew open and his eyes shined intensely. "Han, she's in the Vengeance. Second destroyer on our port side." The Falcon lunged in that direction. Luke gritted his teeth and fired at the wild nest of TIE fighters, keeping half an ear on further signals from Kess.

The Y-wings had scattered from their formations but still sailed across the line of Star Destroyers at top speed, firing protons into every hull as they passed. The A-wings came in behind the first disabled Star Destroyer, the shield generators blew up and the Corvette battleship that happened to be in front of it fired rapidly until the Star Destroyer exploded into a thousand pieces.

The news was quickly passed on that a live Rebel was on the Vengeance and most of the X-wings peeled off from attacking that particular Star Destroyer. The Y-wings still shot to disable it and the Falcon circled over and around the hull, taking out TIEs and gun turrets until they could land. The frigate that was nose to nose with the Vengeance spat green bolts in all directions to hit the swarming TIEs, but the fire shooting at the Vengeance aimed at the neighboring Star Destroyers instead.

Kess ran down the passageway and around a corner, dodging shots from behind, and leaving a pile of stormtroopers on the floor. In the empty corridor, she paused just long enough to sense out to Luke's location. She could feel his light dashing around and on his way here. She shouted into the Force, _"I'm just below the bridge!" _Her eyes flicked around to get her bearings, feeling another collection of troopers headed her way, and dashed the other direction. _"Starboard side!"_ She aimed to get to any room just inside the Star Destroyers starboard side hull, but came around the next corner and skidded to a halt.

Kadaan stood in the middle of the corridor with angry eyes and a band of stormtroopers behind him. Kess' mouth dropped in momentary shock as they fired passed their Master at her, and tried to raise her guard in time. One of the shots sailed into the charred flesh on the back of her forearm, exploding the pain in her arm. Kess cried out and wrenched her hand away from the hilt, backing around the corner again for cover. 

Kadaan firmed up his grip with both hands and followed her. She brought the blade up where it wildly clashed against his. He strafed forward, banging at her blade and trying to corner her with the new oncoming troops. Kess squared her shoulders at him, trying to grip the hilt with her wounded hand again, but the muscles in her forearm were useless now. She slashed sideways at him, the blue blade wavering in clumsily the air from the misdirected maneuver.

A shot came from behind her. She flattened her back to the wall and saw the stormtroopers coming from behind. She raised her guard to block a swing from Kadaan, and saw the stormtroopers coming from behind him as well. Then she looked forward at a door on the other side of the corridor._ A door!_

With quick thoughts, she flipped up the controls and with a loud growing growl, she raced across the corridor and dove inside the next room. _"Make that the port side."_

Luke called out, "Port side! Port side!" 

Han grunted as he yanked the sick and sailed around the back of the tower. 

Luke studied her light, and focused on it, looking at the skinny neck of the bridge tower. He could detect her now, her light tossing around right next to Kadaan's black hole of a Force print. "The Library deck!" Luke yelled into the mike, then his attentions were pulled away to the gun turret that was spitting at him from the bridge tower. Luke fired a dozen red shots sequentially until the turret fizzled and silenced.

Kess found herself in a large library with database terminals towering in short rows. She spun around until her blade crashed against his again. But dropped her wounded arm and balanced it in the air behind her back, taking a traditional, sideways, fencing stance.

Kadaan gave her a grin at her brave position and reached back for another hard swing. Kess strafed back and lowered her blade completely out of the way so that Kadaan's lightsaber would sail into a terminal. The metal sizzled under his blow, the electricity spat out of the hardware. Kadaan pulled back and swung the other way. Kess blocked it with a hard crash, then tapped it tauntingly, making little circles in the air at him, whipping the blade back in forth in front of his face, not giving him enough time to take the offensive again.

Kadaan stepped forward again, and Kess realized that she made a mistake.

A half a dozen stormtroopers poured into the room and washed around the rows of equipment, moving to get behind her.

Cheenan's mouth twitched as he focused on yet another flock of Y-wings sailing down at his ship firing rapidly. His TIEs screamed in all directions, more being chased than on the chase, and two Star Destroyer's of his fleet were already disabled by the Y-wings poisonous darts.

"Admiral, we've lost our deflector field."

Cheenan set his hands on his hips and glared out the window to the fatal efforts of his battle group and he decided that it was time to pull out the ace up his sleeve. Kadaan had ordered for the auxiliary battle groups, the ones that were to clean up the mess on Yavin 4 after the battle was over, but they were a full day away. He'd be dead in an hour if he didn't do something now. The chempods were meant for Yavin 4 surface. Kadaan would probably lose his temper on Cheenan's throat if this idea didn't work, but Cheenan firmly decided that he'd be dead in short order if he didn't do something anyway.

"Arm the chempods." Cheenan ordered gruffly to his crew. The order was echoed to the rest of the battle group. "Launch one each at the Rebel cruisers." That order was also echoed. He turned back to the window, staring down the frigate that stared down him, and let the words fall from his lips. "Fire at will."

Han was trying to ease the Falcon down on the Vengeance's front porch. The pounding of Lando's gun in the upper turret rattled the hull with each fire. Chewie kept his eyes peeled and fired off a couple of shots on the forward guns to any Imperial that looked like it was coming their way.

"Are they disabled yet?" Luke's voice came across the comm as he yanked his body out of the turret chair.

"No," Han told him, "But the shields are down and the upper turrets are out. We'll be able to fight off the TIEs, but it won't be long before the whole thing blows so be quick."

Kaila and Luke rushed to stuff into the under belly of the Falcon. Kaila moved to the airlock, getting it ready to lower the evac tube.

Luke loaded a blaster and stuffed two spare cartridges into his belt. He spat impatiently into the intercom, "Well, you've got to get us in there first."

Kaila rubbed the sweat from her palms to her pants legs and pulled up on the large mechanical handle. "You sure she's in the this part of the ship and not the bridge?"

Luke didn't answer right away, staring into the lower hatch door that was now the only safety between them and the vacuum of space. He sensed out to her and found her light only meters away, shining bright as the sun and busy as a starving bumblebee. He could only imagine what they did to her when they found out that Kess had let the Rebels to them, and hate bubbled for attention underneath his controlled peace. He had to get in there. 

"I'm sure." He hissed as he ignited his lightsaber.

Kess strafed back to the far wall, knowing it would be easier to block shots from the side than from behind. The troopers came around the corner the same time she cleared the rows, and started shooting. Kess scrunched to the ground on strong thighs, letting the first wave of shots sail over her head and jumped back up again with the Force. She brought her feet up to her stomach as she apexed, and brought them down on top of the two rows of terminal towers.

Kadaan brought his blade upward to slice her in half from the bottom, but she dove onto the roof of a tower and rolled once to flatten her body on the top of it. Shots fired at the ceiling around her. She sensed out Luke, just a few feet away, and realized the Falcon was trying to land onto the room next door. 

Kess rolled over onto her stomach and barely peaked over the edge of the terminal. Two stormtroopers were on that side, aiming their shots closer to her. "Shoot the wall." She told one of them. As ordered by a Jedi mind trick, he turned around and blew a tall hole in the metal.

The terminal she was on jerked with a blow then jerked again as Kadaan sliced away the electronics, trying to get her down. Kess rolled off the other side, landing on the stormtrooper that was aiming at her, and slicing the arm off the other stormtrooper that aimed for the wall. Before any of the others could get around the row, she ducked into the room next door.

In a wide set of windows, she saw the Falcon's fat hull clamping down onto the Star Destroyer sideways. She darted to the side of the hole and slashed down at the first blaster rifle that poked through. Her eyes darted to the Falcon again and an evac tube was creeping toward the window. She sliced off the next arm that tried to enter. The stormtrooper crumbled to the ground on the spot. Kess went towards the window, placing herself in front of the evac tube's destination.

Looking up sideways at the front of the tower, Lando saw it before it showed up on anybody's monitors. A single missile fired out of the bridge tower, one like he'd never seen before. The large pill shaped pod quickly gained momentum with its thrusters pushing behind it. Lando didn't recognize the markings and thought it odd that a concussion missile would have a serrated point of a nose. He squinted as it sailed over his head, "What the hell is that?"

Luke straightened his shoulders as he detected the worry in Lando's tone, but Han spoke before Luke had the chance. "What the hell is _what_?"

Then Han saw it, and recognized it. He flipped the switched on the console, "Victory, you've got incoming. It's a chempod. Get out of its path." Chewie's eyebrows slanted and a shadow of horror crossed Han's face. 

The odds of the battle just changed color.

Apparently, someone on the Victory already recognized it. Escape pods shot out of the Victory's hull like hot corn popping right off the ear. Han watched the missile hit the Victory's polygon nose dead center, burrow itself into the hull, and disappear.

The thick rank of death saturated Luke's senses and his eyes watered as if he had just walked into a cloud of tear gas. He could feel flesh instantly rotting, and he could hear the pain in the screams. He fell on one knee at the sudden sucking drain of hope. "We'll never last against chempods."

Lando kept his eye on the missile silo of the Vengeance to report any other pods, and Han tried to get back to the business of landing the Falcon and settled half-cocked on the Star Destroyer's hull. "Go kid, but be ready to close up and take off at a moments notice."

"Right." Luke said. The sounds of breaking open the lower hatch sounded in Han's headset. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the Victory still moving toward them. Most of its crew had died instantly at their stations, so all systems still up and running. Han stared wide eyes but his hands were moving quickly. "Actually kid, don't open it at all." The Victory slowly corkscrewed in their direction. Its hang-tail spun above it and it drifted head first towards the Vengeance. Han yanked the Falcon off the Destroyer's hull. 

"Kess!" Luke cried. The Falcon's pace quickened. Kaila put a hand on the hatch as if she hoped to grab Kess' hand through it and pull her up before it was too late. 

Luke shot up the ladder well to rip Han's head clean off. 

The sudden movements of the Falcon brought Kess' attention to the window. She saw the disc ship fly away with splintered metal falling from its landing claws. "Luke!" She cried out, reaching to the window as if to grab a hold of the thing as it flew away. 

The distraction gave Kadaan his chance. He nailed her blade with such a powerful blow that it went spinning in the air away from her. The ship suddenly rocked with an unseen explosion and the electricity sputtered away as the Vengeance was disabled. Kess set her feet apart to keep from falling over from the rocking, but Kadaan's sure footage aloud him to bring his blade to her neck.

Kess inhaled through her nose and put her hands in the air for surrender, but Kadaan pulled away his blade and belted her across the ear. Her head went dizzy and blood oozed from her hair. She was still standing when she flopped against the wall. Her body slapped against the hard metal like she'd fallen horizontally onto it from ten feet. 

Kadaan stormed to her and closed his fingers around her throat, pressing her back up against the window. He picked her up by her neck and squeezed. She struggled for air, grabbing his collar in desperation. Her senses flickered and her eyesight began to fade, and then realized that she's lost control of her ability to function just before she passed out.

Kadaan watched her slowly go limp and dropped her. With a stiff glare, he grabbed her arm again and dragged her hastily out the room like a rag doll.

The gravity well of the Falcon rocked as Han dipped under the Victory, just meters from being crushed between the giant battleships. Luke tore onto the bridge with panic in his eyes and anger in his voice, "Han, land this ship!"

"Can't kid." Han hissed between his teeth, yanking on the stick to pull around the next Star Destroyer for cover from the evident explosion. Luke grabbed onto the back of the passenger chair to keep his balance. The Falcon screamed passed the next Destroyer's bridge, almost uncaring about the direct hits they were getting. As the Falcon banked, Luke saw why Han had left so quickly.

 The Victory continued to slowly corkscrew across the battle line and dove right into the Star Destroyer's lap. 

"All hands abandon ship! All hands abandoned ship!" The cry over the Vengeance's loud speakers was starting to panic and then who ever was saying it apparently dropped the mike while it was still on and just ran.

 Kadaan drug Kess' limp body across the tiny docking bay and commanded the first pilot he saw to fire up his transport. The pilot didn't mind at all and raced to the transport, leaving his evacuation crew behind him. Kadaan followed the man's pattering feet into the bridge and dropped Kess' body into a passenger seat. The pilot flipped controls and grabbed the throttle with amazing speed and accuracy. Kadaan stood at her side, pulling the straps around her body and securing them. Kess winced a little and started to wake up again. A pilot was punching at the navcomp for a hyperspace jump. As soon as she realized that she was on a transport and not the Vengeance, her panic started to boil.

She lost all hope of ever getting back to Rebel territory. At least the Imperials were head off before they could get to Yavin 4. Kess found some solace in that. She closed her eyes again and found her peace. In seconds, the tri-wings were folding down for flight and the transport rose off the docking bay floor. The bay doors opened with a manual jerking. Troopers and grunts and pilots and officers raced to the nearest life pod, but most of them wouldn't make it.

The Victory had twisted a full ninety degrees by the time hull met hull. The outstretched hang-tail of the frigate fell sideways onto the Vengeance the same time its polygon nose beheaded the bridge tower. Both hulls collapsed in slow motion and Luke let out gut shuddering scream, "NOOOOOO!"

Han's heart sank into his stomach at the sound of Luke's pain but frantically pulled the ship around the next Destroyer to keep from getting blown away from the blast. He doubted his shields would hold. The Victory detonated first, the Vengeance a split second later; and the entire battle came to a brief halt when the explosion rattled every single hull panel on the battlefield.

Fire bubbled out in large chunks of air, knocking out everything in its path for kilometers. Even the Star Destroyer that Han was trying to hide behind was knocked off center. TIEs were fried on contact, X-wings went into wild spins, and the Falcon was swept away like a dried leaf in an autumn breeze. Everyone wasn't strapped down in their craft was beat forcibly against the nearest wall.

As the shuttle moved out the back of the bridge tower, Kadaan had already given the order to hit hyperspace to anywhere. The hyperdrive engines wound up as the Victory crushed the Vengeance. The fire and flying bits of the explosion rained on the transport, ripping two of the three wings off its body. Then the flames engulfed them square in the rear, frying the hyperdrive engines. The transport tumbled with the spewing pieces of Star Destroyer, its hull toasted black, and its lights went out.

The Imperial Shuttle rocked hard and continued to tumble ass over teakettle away from the explosion. Kess winced and reeled trying not to throw up and stay conscious at the same time. She was tremendously groggy. Her eyesight brought everything in as wavy and buzzing images. The pilot was draped awkwardly over the flight stick. Half his head was bashed in from being knocked out of his chair in the shock wave. Kess looked around a little and saw Kadaan's equally lifeless body crumbled in the far corner from apparently the same fatal blow. 

Then she heard the hissing.

Frantically, Kess pulled at the straps that had held her to the passenger chair and saved her life, but her fingers were not touching the same places that her eyes saw her hands go. After a struggle, she freed herself and shot out of the chair only to collapse half onto her knees. She could still hear the hissing and she could feel the pressure in the cabin changing rapidly. On her hands and knees, she crawled to a set of lockers and started ripping them open one by one until she found the emergency T suit she was looking for. 

The air started to chill, but it was the lack of air and pressure that worried her more. She was already gasping for breath as the ripped the T-suit from its hanger and scrambled to get her dysfunctional body into it while still laying on the floor. Dizziness washed over her in large waves. The darkened cabin was rapidly growing darker. Kess slowly managed to get onto one knee to reach the bubbled helmet and fell back down on the floor with it in her arms. 

With one long, concentrating inhale, she slid the helmet over her head and fumbled to secure it in place, her body slowly stopped moving, and her arms dropped limply to the floor. 

Han swallowed the nausea and grabbed the controls to steady the ship. Before Chewie had the chance to even check the scopes, TIEs swarmed over them like flies on a rotting carcass. "Lando? You still up there?"

"Yeah." Lando coughed quietly back. In a few seconds, the rumbling of the upper turret resumed.

"Luke?" Han called back worried, but couldn't pull his attentions away from the business of battle long enough to get more than a glimpse of the bodies on the bridge floor. "Kaila?"

Kaila sat up slowly, "I'm okay." She rubbed her bleeding shoulder and scooted closer to Luke. "Luke?" Her aching body rose to her knees to tend to the man lying next to her in nearly a fetal position. She shook his shoulder with one hand and began to reach to his neck to check his pulse with the other. 

Luke moaned and slowly rolled onto his back. Kaila gasped at the amount of blood on his leg and had to look closer to find the horizontal gash across the front of his left thigh. She instantly pressed both hands on the cut to slow the bleeding, and reported the situation to Han. "He's got a bad cut on his leg. I need to get him in the back and dress it."

Luke's eyes were slammed shut and his mouth was tense with rage. He didn't even reach for his leg. He didn't care if it had been sliced completely off. He hid his eyes with his fingers and ignored Kaila's gentle requests for him to get up.

"C'mon, Luke. I've got to patch this up. You're losing a lot of blood."

Luke let out a tested sigh. "They'll give me another leg," he said tartly. 

Kaila watched his lips twitch with a barely contained scream. His nerves were shattered and his purpose in life was, for the moment, gone. But Kaila knew that it was only for the moment. She let go of his leg and grabbed his collar with both hands, bringing his face up to hers. Luke snarled, ready to bite her head off for yanking him with such vigor when he certainly had a right to be enraged. 

Kaila's eyes stared into his with the serious calm that he should have already been practicing. "Cry later," she ordered stiffly.

Luke blinked at her. The duties rolled back above feeling sorry for himself on the top of his current priorities. He closed his eyes and sighed, found what peace he had left, and grabbed onto Kaila's shoulder to help him stand.

Admiral Ackbar cried into the mike. "Stay out of the way of the chempods! Shoot them down with torpedoes!" But even as he said it, he watched the Tamalak yank itself slowly sideways and get hit with chempod in the side. The TIEs peeled off their attack on the ship, immediately moving to other live vessels, and the Corellian cruiser that stationed a crew of four hundred starting falling down out of the battle line. 

"Our one man fighters can evade those missiles." Ackbar called out to his fleet. "All groups, concentrate your raid on the Destroyers. Disable them before they can get a shot."

Wedge ripped over the hull of one of the blockade runners with Teik at his wing. As soon as the Star Destroyer came into view, they blew rapid fire at it in desperation. A TIE bomber splintered in front of Wedge and he yanked away from the collision. Teik continued his attack on the Destroyer, several other A-wings and X-wings helping the effort from all directions. The Destroyer started to list and a small explosion burst through the lower part of its hull, but without fail, a chempod shot out of the bridge silo as its last ditch effort against the Rebels. 

The blockade runner pushed its nose down and punched the thrusters. The chempod sprayed afterburner in its wake, and followed the runner's exact path. It hit, it burrowed, and the runner continued to sink downward, barely missing the exploding hull of the destroyer. Teik swore violently into the comm, Wedge pulled around to meet him, but then he saw Teik's X-wing spiraling out of control into the dead Star Destroyer's hull. 

"She could've gotten out on an escape pod." Kaila told him, not bothering to try to sound hopeful, and ripped the fastenings closed on the bandage.

Luke winced at the pain, both physical and emotional. He couldn't sense her anymore. He couldn't feel her anywhere. She just wasn't out there.

"Right now, we have bigger problems on our hands." She stepped backwards and looked him in the eye. Kaila was having a hard enough time already. If Luke Skywalker fell apart, they were all in really big trouble.

Luke pulled himself off the bunk and limped passed her to the ladder well. "No," he hissed, "the _Imperials_ have a problem." With out a care to the pain in his leg, he hobbled rapidly down the ladder well and, in moments, the lower gun turret was rumbling through the ship again.

Han watched four X-wings get sequentially fried and muttered under his breath. "We are getting creamed."

Chewie gruffed at him, concentrating hard on killing the TIEs in front of them, and hooted again.

Han yanked the stick, "I'm going! I'm going!" The battle line came into lopsided view and Han went straight for the nearest Star Destroyer. All three guns on the Falcon fired in that same direction, but nothing they could do would stop the chempod that shot out of its bridge.

The nearest Mon Calamari cruiser launched three torpedoes at the thing. The chempod met with them at half distance, and the torpedoes exploded. The chempod wavered from its course a little, but kept heading for the cruiser. 

"Damnit!" Lando yelled out in frustration.

Over the top rear of the shaken battle line, four disc shaped ships came out of hyperspace, and when they did, each shot out a dozen small, one-man ships. Luke didn't recognize them at first, but Han called into the mike. "I guess the Frakkan's really do want a treaty."

Luke shot out the turret at every moving Imperial thing, "They're a little late!"

The tiny Frakkan discs zipped into battle at alarming speed, maneuvering like fireflies on acid through the colorful bolts. Several of them went straight for the chempod missile. As the chempod closed in on the pickle shaped hull, a Frakkan disc sped in front of it, and took the hit.

"Kamikazes?" Han's eyebrows shot up, yanking the stick to pull around and attack the Star Destroyer again.

"No one was in there," Luke said. "Those things are unmanned."

Han cocked a half smile, aimed right for the Star Destroyer, and all three men lay on the guns at the deflector shield. Everybody ignored the TIEs altogether now. The sphere blew. A-wings came up over the bridge tower and fired down at the hull. The Star Destroyer listed slightly and then blew into a thousand pieces. 

The Frakkan addition to the battle brought a second wind to the troops. Each time a chempod was fired, the tiny unmanned discs raced to intercept it. When a chempod's nose met hull, the timer ticked for five full seconds and let out its flesh rotting poisons. The discs were so small that they didn't make it through the suicidal effort, but there was no one in them anyway. They were all being controlled by operators on their mother ships. 

The Frakkan mother ships stayed back out of the dense fighting, but as long as the Alliance didn't have to worry about those chempods, they were just fine to rip the Star Destroyers to shreds by themselves. The rebels ganged up on those Destroyers, out maneuvering them, out firing them, and eventually, out numbering them. They fought with a fury beyond that of the Battle of Yavin. They fought with more desperation than the Battle of Endor. They fought like they had totally lost their temper until the last Star Destroyer exploded in space.

Most of the TIEs didn't have hyperspace capability, so the death of the last Destroyer meant the death for them too. Usually, the Alliance would round them up and start taking prisoners at that point, but the Rebels individually kept shooting holes in hulls until last of the TIE fighter splintered in the night. 

Angry battle cries of victory filled the airways. Frustration and pain colored the voices with the sick satisfaction of vengeance. Without skipping a beat, the rescue efforts began. Every ship that still had the capability to do so started scanning the rubble for lifesigns.

The deathly-still battlefield stretched a half-parsec in length. Y-wings cruised the rubble in pairs searching for lost comrades, and Mon Calamari cruisers pulled in escape pods with a gentle tractor beam. From time to time, whole chunks of Star Destroyer tumbled into pieces of X-wing and exploded all over again. Homing beacons were followed to ejected pilots, and names of the survivors were slowly reported back to home base one by one. 

The blockade runner that was hit by the chempod had floated away. The Falcon clamped itself onto the top of the runner's hull to steady it so a rescue team could get into the ship and see to see if there were any survivors, see if they were just disabled, or if the whole crew was really dead.

They were really dead.

_Really_ dead.

The three men in the rescue team returned to their transport ship with vomit already in their radiation T suits, and reported that the blockade runner, and anything else that was hit by a chempod, should be sent into the atmosphere, giving the crew a proper space burial. They refused to go into detail, but they claimed that there was no way to identify the bodies enough to try and send them home in boxes.

Han conveyed this information back to Admiral Ackbar and the Admiral sent out the word to the rest of the rescue teams. The Tamalak, the Conquest, and the Mon Wrika were sent drifting towards the Yavin sun, totaling over two-thousand people in those three ships alone. There wasn't anything left of the Victory to send drifting. 

There wasn't anything left of the Vengeance either.

Luke stared out the Falcon's cockpit over the ellipse shape of the battle field. He found his peace, calmed his worries, and pacified his burgeoning hate for Supreme Prophet Kadaan. He sensed everything within his range. He scanned every possible piece of ship he could see. He even called out to the Force from time to time and listened for a response. 

He could feel it. Deep down in his soul, he recognized this sinking feeling, this emptiness. He had been here before, and he guessed that he'd probably be here again, no matter how hard, or how long, he tried to rectify it.

Luke was the last of the Jedi.

Again.


	13. Chapter 35

**Chapter 35**

The Falcon landed in its predesignated spot on Pad 14 and the gang stepped down the ramp with hardened shoulders and deep frowns. Chewie and Lando helped off the wounded pilots that the Falcon was able to haul back. Han wrapped his arms around Leia and buried his face in her chestnut hair. Kaila went to Wedge and told him the news with her eyes. Wedge looked back to the Falcon's ramp just as Luke was limping down.

His expression was practically blank. Whitened eyes flicked from empty spaces in the air to empty spaces in the floor. He stepped slowly off the ramp and stopped. His lips parted for an inhale, but his breath was jagged. He looked around the pad full of Rogue Group X-Wings as if he hadn't been there in years. His eyebrows started to wrinkle, and his eyes shot back to the floor again. 

Leia pulled away from her husband, looking to Luke with concern. Han half turned to Luke and glanced at Lando standing next to him, but a frown creased his own brow. He set his hands on his hips and dropped his eyes. Wedge and Kaila watched him sympathetic and worried. Luke suddenly glanced up again, looking right into Leia's eyes, but it was a look like he was afraid to hope. "The survivor list. . . " was all he had the breath to say.

Leia motioned for Lando to grab the nearest runner and told Luke supportively, "They should be compiling it now." The thickness of the air seemed to relax a little when they all climbed on to sit on the bench seats, but not by much. Luke paused before getting on the thing.

Han leaned his elbows on his knees and spoke gently, "Let's go take a look, kid."

Almost reluctantly, Luke climbed on and sat down. He rested his elbows on his knees and put his face in his palms. The runner purred to life and carried them away through the depressed masses of after battle cleanup.

Luke already knew what he was going to find, but would not let the stone lie unturned. Maybe one of the cruisers found her when they scanned for lifesigns of ejected pilots and life pods and simply didn't announce it on the airways. Most battles left the troops in a state of disarray, and they were hit harder in this one that most. It often took several hours to complete and compile the survivor list before anyone could find out who wasn't on it. 

Anxiety saturated him as they runner came to a stop in front of the Council Building. He wordlessly followed the rest of the silent crowd to the first floor data library. Luke took a deep breath and stepped into the darkness. The activity was slow and tasking, voices were hushed, but an entire bunker crew was still there, coordinating the cleanup and rescue missions from a really nasty confrontation. Luke rubbed his lips together and strolled between the glass stat boards behind the crowd.

Yana was already in there with half the admins in the room collecting around a single terminal. Leia stepped up and put a hand on Yana's shoulder. 

Yana was tense, staring angrily at the screen while the gray bar crept across the screen. Lando and Han placed themselves on the far side of the walkway between the terminals. Luke stopped as soon as he realized it was still compiling and rested his back on the nearest vertical surface. He closed his eyes and sighed through his nose.

He didn't want to know the truth, but he knew had to face it, sooner or later. Someone actually had to look him in the eye and say it was so. 

"Finally!" Yana hissed and attacked the keyboard the same time the other admins started shouting out a dozen different names to look up first. Yana didn't listen to them and typed in **Kess Lendra.**

After a long five beats, the screen popped up. **_No Matches Found._**

Yana's heart sank and Luke felt it. He ripped his back from the wall and stomped over to the terminal, ordering the admins to get out of his way. Yana rolled backwards in the chair and raised her hands in surrender, letting him have control of the keyboard.

Luke banged a key and typed. **LT Lendra.**

Five long beats counted again before it popped up.

**_No Matches Found._**

Luke tried something different. **_Lendra, K_**

**_No Matches Found._**

**Jedi Lendra**, he typed.

**_No Matches Found._**

**Lindra**. Maybe someone misspelled it in the report.

**_No Matches Found._**

**Kenobi Lendra**

**_No Matches Found._**

**Kesselia Lendra**

**_No Matches Found._**

Luke stared at the screen for a long moment. His lips pressed together. He banged the key one more time and typed it in, just to see the name on the screen.

**Kesselia Lendra Skywalker**

**_No Matches Found._**

Luke rested his fists on either side of the keyboard and dropped his head. His mouth went stiffer, his eyes shut tighter, and the breath through his nose huffed harder. 

The room was intensely silent until one of the admins spoke to Yana quietly. "We've received the first two reports of the. . .  rest. We need to need to start compiling the other list."

Yana put her hand on her chest for a moment, closing her eyes for a long blink, and nodded. Getting back to business before she lost control of the sorrow, she sat down at the next terminal over. She rested her hands on the keys and paused. "Sir?" She breathed reluctantly without looking at him, "Do you want me to call . . . when. . ."

Without opening his eyes, he barely shook his head. "No, Yana, don't even look for it."

A tear dropped out of the corner of Kaila's eye when she looked up at his back.

Luke pushed away from the terminal with his fists. "She was a Jedi," he said in a rough whisper. "There wouldn't be a body." 

Eyes followed his back as he walked out of the room. He tried to set his mind so he could throw himself to the mercy of after-battle cleanup. He tried to concentrate his attentions on the survival of the living rather than the mourning of the dead, and stuff his pain deep down in his soul until he could face it alone. . . until he could face it at all. 

His speed slowed as soon as he walked out the front door of the Council Building. The sun shined down on his face like it was beckoning him for a game of ball. Fighters in various states of battle damage were still being landed down into the top of the Pad's. The green grass between the giant rows was shredded from the traffic and still half filled with the speeders of those who hadn't come home yet. . . and those wouldn't come home at all.

Luke paused at the top of the steps. She wasn't coming home either. He inhaled deeply. The air quivered on the way to his lungs. She wasn't going to graduate. He slowly lowered himself down to sit on the step. She wasn't going to be his first Jedi Knight. He set his feet several steps below him and rested his elbows on his knees. She was never going to kiss him again. Luke let out the air with a collapsing exhale. Kesselia was never coming home. 

Leia slowly sat down on the step next to him. Luke stared out towards the Admin building. He stared out at nothing. He stared into his memory, and distantly, shook his head. "I don't even have a picture of her," he whispered.

Leia patted his knee. "We find you one."

Luke folded his fingers tightly together in front of him and closed his eyes. He pressed his thumbs to his mouth. His eyelids wrinkled. He tried his hardest to meditate, to concentrate. . . but the shock of it ripped his emotions apart. Her face kept popping up in his mind. Her breath brushed across his cheek. Her voice kept sounding in his ears, _"I don't want to go up against him when you're ready if it means that nobody is going to benefit from it if I fail!" _

_"BECAUSE I DON'T WANT TO LET YOU GO!"_

Somehow, somewhere along the line, she'd become more of a Jedi than he was.

**  **  **  **  **  **  **

Luke almost forced Leia to assign him to the makeshift team to manage the disbursement of the captured prisoners of war. Diligently and emotionlessly, he disarmed and dis-armored hundreds of stormtroopers and pilots whose lives were saved by life pods. He already had a lightsaber and a well-known reputation, but the stiff, cold, and **mean look on his face throughout the effort was well noticed by the POWs. Not one of the Imperials gave him so much as a dirty look.**

The POW's were stuffed into permatemp overflow barracks throughout the base and as heavily guarded as the Alliance could afford. But with the POW's there, there was little room for the survivors of the four Rebel cruisers. If that weren't bad enough, several of the other cruisers were so badly damaged that some to half of their crew needed ground based residence until repairs were made. The order came down late in the afternoon that the tenants of the barracks had to be consolidated. All unoccupied rooms had to be reported to the Barracks Admin, all rooms occupied with belongings of anyone KIA had to be packed as soon as possible so they could be shipped home. Everyone that could conveniently arrange other temporary housing was ordered to do so. 

It was long after dinner when Mon Mothma gave him the direct order to go get his leg tended to, and it was after midnight when the med droids released him with the order to go home and get some sleep. Luke was resistant, but too upset to actually start an argument about it. He didn't realize how frightened he was to go home until he actually got there.

Luke dropped his cane and fell into the couch. He had immediately ripped off his lightsaber and commlink upon walking in, and then shed his tunic and untucked his shirt shortly there after. He pulled his braced leg up with his hands and propped it on the drink table. As soon as that was taken care of, he closed his eyes and propped his temple on his fist, using his free hand to pull away the buttons of his shirt, but he gave up on the whole effort of getting ready for bed before the shirt even came off. He didn't want to go to bed. He didn't want to do anything. 

Artoo rolled over to him beeping questions.

Luke slowly opened his eyes to him, "Would you get me something to drink?" Artoo beeped something derogatory about not being programmed as a step and fetch it, and Luke usually didn't ask him to do stuff like that. This time, he motioned to the limb propped up on the table. "I'm not supposed to walk more than I have to."

Artoo twittered at him and turned away. In a minute, he returned with a blue glass bottle of sweetwater. Luke sneered at him, "No, Artoo, the sweetwater is for when Kess. . .  comes over. . . " his words faded as he realized what he was saying. The sadness struck his face and formed a lump in his throat. He swallowed hard, but that didn't seem to help. 

Artoo was already turning away with the bottle. Luke stopped him, "No, wait. I'll drink it." He took the thing from Artoo's utility arm and popped it open in deep thought. The cold of true pain had settled in his stomach and he took a long swig of the sweetwater as if drinking something would keep the pain out of his throat.

Artoo rolled backward a little, beeping more questions, but turned away before Luke gave him a response. Luke could understand about half of what he was saying, which was enough to get the general idea about the other half, and Luke tried to shut him up without having to actually say the word 'dead.' "No, Artoo, she's not coming over anymore." Luke rubbed his palm over his face. Wording it that way didn't feel any better than if he had just said it bluntly.

Artoo beeped questionably.

Luke stared out the window. The street lamps glowed up into the night, flooding out most of the ability to see the blinking, moving lights of the fleet that had returned to orbit. The overhead light reflected from behind him and Luke focused on his own dim image. It looked like a ghost of himself, like he was the one that died and then returned as one of the Ethereal Dead Jedi Knights. Luke wondered if Kess would come back and visit him, if she would appear just long enough to say good-bye. 

His throat tightened. He closed his eyes. He could hear Artoo's servos whirring back to him. Artoo beeped, but Luke tried to ignore him. He tried not to lose it. He tried to make it all just go away. Artoo bumped into his good leg, insisting an answer. Luke pulled his hand from his temple and patted the dome head. He had to say it out loud. He had to accept it, no matter how much it hurt.

"She's dead."

Artoo turned his head more in Luke's direction. Luke felt the metal sliding under his hand and wished for a moment that he could get an actual hug out of his little friend. He peeled his eyes open again, frowning deeply, and rubbed the whiskers on his chin. Luke sighed, and propped his temple back onto his fist. "I lost her."

Artoo beeped mournfully.

Luke let out a quivering sigh, and said it again, like he had just fully realized what he was saying. "I lost her."

One of the utility arms popped out of a door in Artoo's chest, quietly warbling about Kess. Luke wearily rubbed the wetness from his eyes, annoyed at being so constantly reminded, and patiently held a hand out for whatever Artoo was going to give him. It was a datacard Luke didn't recognize. He brought it to his sights and squinted at the label. 

**What not to do while training a (farmboy) Jedi Master.**

Luke dropped his hand to his lap and gave Artoo a bittersweet smile. The droid had good intentions, but Luke wished he had waited until later to give it to him. "This is from her?" he whispered.

Artoo paused before he twittered an affirmative. He swiveled down a little, beeping mournfully and shaking his domed head. Luke reached out and patted him again. Consoling Artoo's preprogrammed sorrow seemed to make him feel a little better, "We'll make it, pal. We always do."

Artoo twisted his optical sensor up to him, gibbering pessimistically and rotated his body to roll away. Luke listened to the droid put himself in the corner, pulled in his third wheel and shut down to stand-by. The apartment went deathly quiet. 

Luke traced a thumb on the datacard without looking at it. He swallowed hard, and when that didn't work, he swallowed more of the sweetwater. That didn't work either, and he accepted that he would not be able to pacify the anxiety until he actually read the thing.

With a heavy sigh, he pushed himself off of the couch, and wobbling over to the desk for a datapad and wobbling back to park himself on the couch again. He took a long swig of the bottle and he looked at the handwriting on the datacard, imagining her hand actually writing it. Hesitantly, he plugged it in; with another sigh, he switched it on; and after a silent moment of trying to find his peace, he actually looked at the words.

**I knew you couldn't resist! I left this in your den on purpose!**

Luke covered his bittersweet smile with his hand, closed his eyes for a good, long, tear-controlling blink, and imagined her voice as he read it. For the moment, it felt like she was still alive.

**So now you know how it feels to have someone writing notes about you and won't let you read them. I doubted you could wait until my training was over before you took a peak at this. I programmed one of the memory switches to burn the date into the disc. I'll be checking this on occasion to see when it was powered up again. And then I'll have proof! **

**You're serve!**

**But since you actually did break down and are now reading these notes. I might as well give you some notes to read so Here it is! My list of the five most important things not to do while training a farm boy Jedi Master.**

**1. Never ask him about Darth Vader. (It's all just a long story anyway.)**

**2. Never run with a hangover. **

**3. Never point it out that he's flirting with you. (Because he probably doesn't realize it and will clam up as soon as he does.)**

**4. Never kiss him. (At least wait until after he admits it to himself that he really does want you to kiss him.)**

**5. And never, ever admit that you know just how much he likes it when you comb his hair away from his face with your fingers.**

Luke paged down, but there was nothing more. He gazed over the words again, and reread the five items in the list. He started shaking his head. _She could see right through me._

She must've written it a while back, before she knew about Vader, and probably had forgotten about it. Artoo ran across it during the two weeks of uninterrupted downloading while they were gone and intended to ask Luke what to do with it. 

Luke dropped his head to the back of the couch, remembering when she did comb her fingers through his hair, _That's my girl._ He remembered swinging through the jungle mist with her half naked body clung to him until they splashed into the eddy. He remembered arguing with her in the manager's office and laughing with her in the clearing. 

He remembered the only time he woke up with her body in his arms, how he thought he was dreaming and didn't want to wake up. He closed his eyes and remembered every detail he could about that morning. He smiled bittersweetly as he remembered the thoughts that were plaguing his mind. For a moment, he resented not taking the opportunity when he had it, but a moment later he realized that if he had, Ben would have showed up to rip his throat right out of his neck. 

Poetic Justice.

Luke tried to tell himself that they never had a chance together anyway. His mouth stiffened hard with that decision. Ben wouldn't approve. It didn't matter what Yoda said. Her father would certainly not approve and probably do everything in his power to build walls between them.

Luke's eyes flew open and immediately narrowed. _Her father. Somebody has got to tell her father_. He already didn't want to do it, but it would be inappropriate if anyone else did. And it would be devastating if he tried to wait. Dane Lendra should hear the news from Luke first.

He focused on the table in the corner of the room and took a wild guess about which datacard up there was blank. He narrowed his eyes at it, and the thing came flying in the air until at him he caught it. _I still haven't accepted it_, he thought. _I'm not falling apart yet. So might as well get this over with while I still have my wits about me._

Luke pulled the Jedi Master notes from the datapad and put it in his lap. He plugged in the other datacard, deleted everything that was already on it, and scratched his bare chest. He stared into the air for a long minute, licked his lips, blinked a single tear from his eye, and started typing. 

**Dear Mr. Lendra,**

**I am writing you with painful news. On 2.69.14.10, Lt. Kesselia Kenobi Lendra was killed in action during the Battle of the Line. . . .**

**  **  **  **  **  **  **

**Monday**

Skirmishes of hate sizzled between the prisoners and the angry guards from time to time. Homeless Rebels were parked with their giant travel bags along the halls of the barracks waiting for a room to open up. The wounded of both sides filled the Med Lab on Yavin and on the cruisers still in orbit. Moaning bodies lay on the floor in the hallways, everyone that could heal in the barracks was sent home. Only the most critical cases were kept in the hospital. Spouses and their children poked hopefully around at the Pad Complexes, either not having seen the survivor list yet, or not believing it yet. Every third person Luke saw was angry, crying, or perpetually quiet with shock. 

They were hit hard in this one; not like any of the other battles felt any different. Luke thought that maybe it just seemed that way this time because he was hit hard too. Just when he had thought all the unbearable loneliness was coming to an end, when he thought that maybe he could endure the rest of the war in the arms of a woman, the galaxy came crashing down on his dreams, just like it always did. Luke firmly and forcibly decided that it was a waste of time to try to be human.

Something drew him to their barracks with more that the reason he told himself. He clenched his fist around Yana's commlink as he stepped up to the apartment door. He stiffened his face and made up his mind that he would only be a minute, and rang the bell.

Yana answered with an angry mouth and reddened eyes. When she saw him, she turned away and left the door open for him. Luke clenched his teeth and stepped in. He watched her go back to sitting area to continue cleaning up the usual mess in the apartment. "I came to bring you back your commlink." He said stepping over to the table. He focused on the melted gash in the black lacquer for a moment, remembering the day Joanne broke into the lighsaber cabinet when her Jedi roommate wasn't looking, and then handed it out to Yana. "I didn't realize I still had it."

Yana paused before she took it. After a moment, she stuffed it into her pocket and proceeded to carry an armload of things into Joanne's room. 

Luke stuffed his hands in his pockets wondering why he didn't want to leave. When Yana came back out, she still didn't look at him. "How's Joanne?" he asked.

"She'll be fine," she said stiffly. "They're going to keep her in Med Lab for a couple of weeks." Yana paused at her task, putting her hand on her forehead. "They sedated her until they could work on her. She, uh, she took a lot of shrapnel. . . .She doesn't know about Kess yet."

Luke stiffened his mouth. Kess was dead, but there was a war on and work had to be done. "Did you pack up her stuff yet?"

Yana's green eyes flicked to him. "Excuse me?" 

Luke narrowed his glare at her. 

Yana waved a hand at the air. "She only died yesterday! Can't you even wait for her body to get cold?!?"

Luke shifted his shoulders, "Yana, we lost four cruisers and now have hundreds of troops that need a place to live until we can sort out the mess. You heard the order that came down yesterday! We need to make room to take in the lost assignments… it doesn't matter who died!"

Yana looked at him with pained eyes. He was right, but he didn't have to be a dick about it. Yana's nose curled at him. Her voice dropped to deadly whisper. "_You_ sent her out there to die. _You_ pack her stuff."

Luke jaw clenched at that. He shot away angrily, "Fine. Give me a box."

Yana stormed to the other end of the living room, picked up one of the boxes that the housing admin had dropped off and threw it at him. Luke caught it in the air and didn't skip a beat. He stomped toward Kess' room and slammed his fist on the door control.

At the sight of her bedroom, her things, her favorite jacket, her hair brush, he stopped cold.

Yana watched him stare into the room. She saw his hardened eyes begin to melt. Her grizzly whisper grated across his neck. "You know it would have been nice if you started acting human _before_ she died." She walked across the living room to her own bedroom. "Kess was the only one that wanted to see it." Yana closed the door behind her.

Luke bit his tongue. _Kess did see it_, he thought in defense, but he scolded himself for his mind wandering off. There was a war on. There was work to be done. 

He boldly stepped into her room and shut the door behind him. Trying to keep sight of the objective, he set the box down on the unmade bed and went for the first piece of furniture he saw to start emptying it out.

He ripped through Kess' dresser and wadded armloads of clothes without looking at anything he found. He got another box and tightened his teeth as he loaded it up with little tidbit things that were on the desk top, dresser and little shelves. Little trinkets of this and that fell into the cardboard and rattled. He forced himself not to take a sniff at the bottle of perfume. He tried not to bury his face in her bathrobe. He ripped the clothes off their hangers with tears dribbling down his rock hard expression. He packed the rose shirt she wore when she kissed him on the Frakkan beach. He packed the canvas coveralls he saw her wear everyday. He threw the datapads into the box and found a handful of datacards in a tiny stack. 

Standard procedure was to make sure that nothing that got sent home was confidential information. Luke bit his lips together and sat down on the bed with the stack and pulled out one of the datapads. He was scared of finding another note to him or about him that would rip his heart to shreds even more.

The first in the stack was a jotted set of directions to the south base warehouse. The second was a letter to her brother. Luke didn't read it but he caught the word 'Kenobi' enough to know what it was about. He pulled it out as quickly as the first and threw it into the box. The third was a book on shield physics for X-Wings.

Luke rubbed his lips together and set the card aside to go back into the fleet library. He punched in the fourth card with his eyes closed. Kess had taught Luke to be as human as everyone else, but right now, human was the last thing he wanted to be.

When he finally got the guts to do so, he focused on the next card. It was a letter of resignation of her commission, dated the night he told her about Vader. The next card was one of the Dalthomir records. He slid that one into his pocket. The next one was a short mail message, not long enough to for anyone to need to keep.

**Lt.**

**The schematic is enclosed. Please be careful with it.**

**I would like to see the results.**

**Skywalker**

His eyes drifted closed. His forehead hit the datapad. His chest heaved for air, but he caught it from falling apart. He wouldn't let himself fall apart. 

He _had_ to fall apart.

Yana knocked on the door and, after a long paused of no response, she opened it. She looked at him in his frozen position on the bed, his forehead pressed against a datapad, and could only guess about what he might have found. "I'm sorry for saying that," she muttered.

Luke swallowed hard. "That's all right." He dropped the datapad to his lap and straightened his back. He sniffed loudly.

Yana brought in a deep sigh. "Can you do me a favor?" She saw him try to glance at her but look away again quickly. "I need a ride back to my speeder."

Luke bit his upper lip. "All right," he said with a sigh. He stood looking mechanically at the contents he was trying to pack, but stepped away from the chore and pushed passed her to lead her to his speeder.

Yana rode silently in the passenger's seat, a tear still streaming down her own face from time to time. Luke was upset in his own cold Jedi way. He drove slowly compared to his usual speed, watching the familiar path flow around him all the way back to the clearing. 

As he slowed down in the last stretch, he saw her speeder in the middle of the dirt road, dusty and damaged from the race through the jungle and the blue paint blackened on the side from dozens of close range, blast shots. Yana looked at it, wondering if she should even bother picking it up, and blew up at her bangs.

Luke caught his breath when she did it. He glanced over as he slowed to a stop in front of her speeder. Passed Yana, he could see the other charred speeder in the brush. He blew out a breath and looked at his lap. 

Yana climbed out with a huff, "The damned thing better start."

Luke looked on the other side of the road and saw the beaten path into the jungle to the clearing. He absolutely refused to feel it yet, but the caustic pain was ready to explode. He climbed out of his speeder and strolled towards Yana.

She still had one foot on the dust-covered road as she sat in the driver's seat and turned over the engine. It powered up and powered down. She sighed and tried again. No use.

Luke stepped up the hood with his hands in his pockets. "It came down light as a feather, it shouldn't be having any problems."

Yana thumbed toward the passenger side. "Did any of those shots get through the chassis?"

Luke peaked over and his eyes went wide at the damage. Stepping around the speeder, he reviewed chassis and found that a few shots had busted through. "Yeah."

"Damnit," Yana cursed, pressing her palms to the side of her head. "Next time, were taking Kaila's speeder!" 

Luke rolled a finger in the air, listening to the mechanics, "Try it again."

Yana huffed, put her hand on the ignition and tried again. It powered up some, coughed, and powered up some more until it was spitting itself alive. 

Luke stepped around to her window as she pulled her foot inside and shut the door, then leaned on it with a locked elbow. "Do you remember the way back?"

"Yeah," she snarled a little. "Aren't you going back?"

Luke looked over to the beaten path again and closed his eyes in a silent sigh. "Not yet."

Yana looked, but saw nothing, and looked back at him. His eyes were closed in a meditation, but as she watched, his eyelids slowly started to wrinkle. Yana bit her lips together. "Are you gonna be all right?"

Luke patted the door and stepped away, "Yeah." He whispered it like he wasn't quite convinced of it himself. "Go on back."

Yana watched him stroll to the side of the road with his hands in his pockets, and she realized he had to say good-bye. She put her speeder in gear and pulled it around Luke's, slowly speeding back to base.

As the sound of Yana's speeder faded off in the distance, Luke noticed that the birds were chirping brightly. The wind still rustled through the trees and the sun shined bright green springtime into the jungle. . .  all as if nothing had happened. After a moment for a deep, determined breath, he walked silently down the trail, sensing the same breeds of squirrels and rabbits scurrying away and getting back to eating as soon as they were a good distance from the human. The brook babbled just out of sight and a floppy eared wildcat was chewing on the grass in the clearing when he walked up.

The cat looked at him, and Luke glared back. After a long moment of intense communication, the cat broke the stare, strolled to the edge of the jungle and dropped out of sight.

_Don't they know?_ Luke thought childishly. _Don't they realize she's dead?_

Luke crawled over the fallen log and leaned against it, humbly admitting that the death of one human wasn't going to disrupt the harmony of the jungle. That's why he always liked it here. No matter what was happening in domestic troubles, galactic politics, or war. . . the jungle always stayed the same. He looked out to the grass where the cat had been eating, where there were long, quiet talks about old friends and adventures, where more than one dud saber duel had started. . . No, the clearing wasn't the same anymore.

Everywhere he looked, he imagined her standing there, sitting there, giggling at him, complaining, asking embarrassing questions and arguing unbeatable facts. He saw her in the trees, laying in the grass, or sitting on the log. . . .

Luke's knees gave in and he slid his back down the side of the log, jerking as he lost his balance and landing on the ground with a thump. There was a hole in his heart the size of an asteroid. He sighed deeply, thinking about the one brick wall that stood between them the whole frustrating eight months. With gritting teeth, he ripped his lightsaber from his belt and threw it as hard has he could into the bushes beyond, just like she did only two days ago. . . . _when she told me she loved me. _

_She loved me._

Luke stared into the air and large clean tears fell out of wide eyes. He could not believe that she had turned. He wouldn't accept that. No, she died because she was in a no-win situation. She died because she had to put herself in the wrong hands to give the Alliance the information they needed. 

She died because he let her go out there.

He wanted to blame it on himself, but he knew that it was just the frustration craving to take it all out on somebody. He kept his wits together as well as he could. The long, death stinking duties after the battle had drug on for hours upon hours. Pulling maimed friends from the sky. Other's frantically searching for their loved ones over the airways. It was hard to keep the dark side under control for all that. He had to calm himself down every few minutes to keep from ripping everybody's head off. It felt like his emotions had gone through that carbonite freezing on Bespin. 

Luke swallowed the lump in his throat and wiped the tear from his eye. 

He remembered the night after the reception, the way she stood there in her apartment, wanting him to stay the night as just bad as he wanted to stay the night. Her cheeks were blushing with temptation. The velvet dress was as soft as her skin. The green was as deep as her eyes were brown. Her smile, her clean voice. . . .

_She loved me._

Luke face wrinkled and more tears fell, splashing on his out-stretched leg brace, and disintegrating into his shirt. His chest quivered, his heart sank deeper into his stomach, and he whispered, "I failed Ben." 

Then shouted it out as loud as he could, "Do you hear me?! I failed!" He sniffed into the sky, "Aren't you gonna show up with words of comfort or something? Point out _exactly_ what I did wrong now that it's too late?. . . . Wh-what about you Master Yoda, aren't you going to come tell me some twisted wisdom?" His head dropped back against the log and clenched his fists until his fingers turned red. "Or how about an 'I told you so' from my _loving father!_" 

As soon as his growl echoed away, his eyebrows wrinkled. "Aren't the Ethereal Guild of Dead Jedi Knights going to show up and kick me in the stomach?"

His thoughts and his attitude drifted to silence. The birds chirped and the canopy rustled and business as usual in the clearing wasn't touched by his anger, his pain, or his deeply growing desire to get violent on something. He needed to vent it all, complain to someone who wouldn't take it personally, talk for hours into a caring ear. But the only person he could ever talk to like that, was gone.

The anger faded from his reddening eyes. He stared into the air and whispered into the Force, "Aren't you going to say good-bye?"

He imagined Kess in front of him, smiling brown eyes, dusk colored cheeks, and braid-kinked golden hair over her shoulders. She was on her hands and knees in front of him, looking the same way she did when she crawled onto his bed in the middle of the night. It was the last time he saw her alive. He had kissed her, held her, prayed for her, and the words got caught in his throat. 

He smiled sadly at the memory, at the sympathetic eyes of the image in front of him. Fresh tears flowed from his eyes and his sigh quivered. Now, he would never get to say it to her in person. He would never get to touch her face, or run his fingers through her hair. He swallowed hard and whispered to her image, "I love you."

She mouthed the words back to him, but there was no sound, and she faded from his foggy imagination. The trees focused in his sights, the stream bubbled, the breeze blew through the brush and the clearing was unbearably empty again.

Luke brought up his good knee and propped his elbow on it to bury his face in his hand. Tears dribbled down his fingers. His chest heaved and shook. He couldn't hold it in any longer. The bottle of contained pain burst open and flowed over him like a tidal wave. Luke sat there and cried long into nightfall.


	14. Chapter 36

**Chapter 36**

Luke hobbled onto Pad 14 and looked over the group that was no longer his to command as he stepped over to the Falcon. Kaila was standing under the cockpit with greasy hands and a trouble expression aimed at the broken module above her.

"Where's Han?" Luke asked quietly.

Kaila wiped her hands with a rag without looking at him, "He went to supply. He'll be back in a few minutes."

"How's the Falcon running?" he asked as he looked up at the beaten craft.

Kaila sighed. "We'll splice her back together," she assured wearily. "She probably wouldn't work at all if she were engineered correctly anyway."

Luke smirked a little and looked out over the pad again. He saw Wedge and Ashten at the far end of the Pad. Ashten had the mouse ears over her own and monotonously rattled off the required commands and requests to land the large chunks that were being pulled out of the sky. Wedge stood next to her with his hands on his hips, watching for something about to land. Luke told Kaila, "I'll be right back," and started to waddle over to Wedge.

Luke passed the X-wings she worked on, passed what was left of Rogue Twelve that she almost died in, and passed Rogue Five that he flew. His heart started to sink back into his stomach. It was all he could do not to turn around and go hide in the ready room to meditate for an hour. 

He reached Wedge with a grim face. "I heard we lost Teik."

Wedge nodded at the floor, but he got back to business quickly and looked out to the open bay doors again to watch the chunk of ship lower slowly with the grip of the tractor beam. He mumbled it respectfully, but didn't look at his friend when he said it, "I'm sorry about Kess."

Luke dropped his gaze and nodded. "Yeah, me too." He brushed it off with as much casualness as his tight voice would muster, and looked around to the scene of repair grunts that were hanging on battered and beaten X-wings. Rogue Group looked as bad as they did before Kess had initiated the ground. Chewie was sitting on top of the Falcon repairing some of his own damage, and Kaila was still underneath the cockpit. Seidrik and a few others were moving around burnt ship parts that had been pulled from the battlefield. They parked, analyzed, and recorded the battle flak, looking to re-obtain any Alliance codes left in ship systems, scrounging for parts in good enough condition to reuse, and pulling out the dead bodies to be shipped home.

A noise sounded in Ashten's mouse ears and she suddenly brought the mike to her mouth, "Control, Pad 14; roger that." Then she switched. "Seidrik, grab incoming transport chunk and bring down to spot sixteen."

Luke turned to the pad floor and looked out at his old group. The repair engineers that worked so close with Kess were just going through the motions. Most of them fretted over the loss of somebody closer, but the loss of Kess didn't help either. The X-wings that had landed on their own were already stuffed in the corners, and several pieces of Star Destroyers and rebel craft were slowly being stacked up in a line in front of the far wall. The medvacs were there, but only manned with droids.

What barely resembled an Imperial Shuttle slowly lowered through the doors. The two of its three wings were completely ripped from the hull. All that was left was the odd shaped, haze-gray and blackened pod and one tall quail looking tuft of a wing. 

Luke noticed Han returning to the Falcon with a bag full of parts and started to turn away, "I'll let you guys get back to work." 

Ashten nodded and spoke into the mike, choreographing the landing of the battle's leftovers. The thing landed with a giant crunch and the grunts pried open a hatch. Seidrik climbed in, and the echo of his surprise could be heard throughout the pad floor. "It's Kadaan! Kadaan's in here!"

Luke turned back around.

The yelling lowered to a mumbling, and Seidrik talked on his mike to Ashten. The grunts lifted a black shrouded body from the hatch and laid it out on the ground. With out even a blink, they stood tall and stepped away. One of them snarled and lightly kicked Kadaan in the foot before he returned to the busted craft.

"Thank the Force he's dead." Ashten said and then called back into the mike. "How many bodies?"

As Luke watched, he had the urge to go kick Kadaan's dead body himself.

They could see Seidrik turn and peering into the hatch after the grunts, the med droids already wrapping up Kadaan's frozen body on the concrete floor. Next, a flight officer was carried out, his face as white as his uniform. Then Seidrik looked back in and his shoulders melted against the jam of the pried open hatch. He retreated only as three grunts were pulling a lifeless body from the craft. Seidrik turned to Ashten and spoke quietly in the mike.

Ashten heard Seidrik's voice in her ear and her shoulders melted too.

Luke felt her sorrow swell and glanced at the elfin woman, and then looked out to the limp, T-suited body being ever so gently laid out on the floor. Whispers rolled through the pad like a sad wave. Han even perked his ears as someone told him. Chewie proceeded to climb off the Falcon. Kaila started marching over.

Luke took a deep breath and stared at the T-suit that people were already gathering mournfully around. For a moment, he tried to decide whether he actually wanted to see her dead body or not. 

_Kess' dead body._

His eyes slowly narrowed, his lips pressed together. "There wouldn't be a body," he spat. 

Luke shot out across the giant pad floor, limping on the cane. Ashten paused a second, blinked, and then was _right_ on his heals. Luke sped up to almost a full run, throwing the cane away from him. It rattled loudly as it skidded away on the concrete. The crowd had gathered around Kess, some kneeling in mourning, others bowing their heads. They all look up at Luke's sudden energy.

Luke raced over and fell to his knee next to Han, "There wouldn't be a body!"

Han stiffened as he looked to Luke. The Jedi leaned over Kess' waist and frantically trying to pull the clasps of the suit away. At first, Han thought that Luke was actually hitting that denial stage. Kess' T-suit was crusted with ice and the other bodies in the transport were frozen solid. There was no way she could have survived this. 

But then. . . she was a Jedi. . . . 

Han looked down at the pale face inside the T-suit's bubbled helmet and remembered how Obi Wan Kenobi's body completely disappeared immediately upon death. Then he moved as fast and as furious as Luke did. He scooted his knee closer and started taking off the ice crusted suit. Almost the same set of thoughts went through everyone else's mind. The idea of it didn't make much sense, but then, nothing about the Jedi really did. Don't ask, just do. Within a split second after Han started moving, Ashten's eyes widened and started to pull off the bubbled helmet. Kaila ordered for a set of cutters to get the suit off and Chewie growled at the medvacs to get a doctor over here _now_.

The helmet was carefully pulled off of a pale, lifeless face. "Her skin is ice cold," Ashten whispered.

The front of the T-suit was ripped away by a dozen different hands, the sleeves cut away from her wounded arms. Kaila reached over with the cable cutters and carefully clipped the binders from her wrists, piece by piece. Han pressed his fingers into the healthiest part of her limp wrist and breathed. "There's no pulse."

Kaila ordered violently at those who just stood and stared. "Cut the suit off! Warm her up."

More grunts joined in on the efforts, racing blankets to the sight, and warming whatever part of her skin they could reach with their bare hands. Han rose to his knees and started pressing his palms to Kess' chest. In sync with Han, Ashten pinched Kess' nose and blew air back into her mouth. Chewie hauled over medical supplies and Kaila continued to gently pull away the slices of the T-suit and ice crusts from the black shirt and blue hospital pants. 

Luke sat on his hip, stretching his braced leg out to the side, and hovered halfway over her waist. He closed his eyes and reached in with the Force. 

Kesselia's conscience was stuffed deep into her soul, but she was still in there. She had stuffed herself in the T-suit, and then slowed her breathing and her pulse to protect her from the lack of oxygen and freezing temperatures of space while she waited for the rescue teams to find her. She had gone into a Jedi Trance severe enough to kill her, tucking away every possible life sign in the process of saving her life. Luke could feel her Force print locked in a tiny corner and he started talking to her, out loud and through the Force, simultaneously. "Wake up, Kess... Wake up. Come out of it."

Han paused from the CPR to check her pulse again. Her heart was beating at an extremely slow rate but he breathed a sigh of relief, "I got a pulse."

Ashten put her hands on Kess' bluish cheeks to warm them, watched to see if she was breathing, but then frantically blew more air into her mouth. 

"Kesselia, I know you're in there." Luke said again, poking his thoughts at the little bubble of life inside the body. "C'mon, wake up!" She wasn't emerging. She wasn't moving.

Ashten felt a feint breeze and looked up. A shallow breath blew from Kess' nose. She cradled the woman's head on her lap, and smiled. 

Luke gritted his teeth. Even if she was breathing and her heart was beating, she'd be dead in short order if her mind didn't come out of its shell to take over the duty of keeping her body alive. His voice was beginning to lose patience, "Kess, don't play with me like this," he begged helplessly. He leaned over a little more, glaring straight at the bluish, motionless face, and growled out a Commander's shout. "It's your serve damn it! Wake up!"

_"Luke?"_

Luke barely heard it, but her lips had twitched as if she thought she was saying it out loud. He caught his breath and grinned.

Ashten face brightened. "She moved."

Luke dug into her Force print and tried to drag the life out of its shell. He poked at it, tried to grab it, and yank it back alive. The shell wiggled to get out of his grip. Luke let out a quick laugh but wouldn't let the excitement get the best of him. "C'mon," he kept urging. "Come out of it." 

He continued to prod at her emotions. He could feel the life stretch and expand, grow slowly and achy back into the body, reaching out to feel for the arms and the legs and fitting back into the places it had resided for twenty six years already. He whispered anxiously, "Wake up, woman."

Suddenly, her face winced. Her fingers tightened around Han's arm, the cold completely numbed her physical senses. Her lips parted to bring in a slow gasp of air, the warmth of it stinging her lungs, and her eyes slowly peeled open. She blinked a dozen times at the fuzzy images and bright lights and could barely see Luke's smile in front of her.

"Hi there," he breathed, giddishly, farm boy happy.

Kess closed her eyes again and tried to reach up. Luke took her waist and pulled gently to help her sit up, wrapping his arms around her in the process. Her arms huddled in his chest, she buried her face in his neck and clung to him as though he was the life she almost lost. Her breath was ice cold on his shoulder, but she was breathing, she was moving, she was alive. 

Luke gave Kaila one quick, joyful glance and the woman immediately shouted out, "Yeah!" Han shot a fist into the air with a wild whoop and the several dozen grunts and pilots joined in, calling out words of victory, whistles and applause. Pad 14 echoed with the excitement of a Victory Day.

In the middle of the fast moving bodies and the loud voices, Chewie's delighted growl and Artoo's singing beeps; Luke held her close and quiet, rubbing warmth back in to her torso and whispering into her half frozen ear; thanking the Maker, the Force, Ben, Yoda, Anakin, anybody, _everybody_. Kess was alive.

**  **  **  **  **  **  **

Luke smiled on occasion, sighing out new breaths of relief and paced with his cane, back and forth in the mad lab waiting room. Kaila watched him with a raised eyebrow, perfectly content to watch his sudden bursts of glee, his shoulders relax with relief, and then do an about face for another pace, worried sick why the doctors would be taking so long.

He collapsed in one of a line of waiting room chairs and roughly rubbed his forehead. Kaila glanced at Han with a grin. Han propped one ankle on the other knee, and shrugged with a cockeyed smile. They were the only three left in the waiting room after so many hours of waiting. Luke lost count of how many people he was supposed to call as soon as she woke up. He had just decided to call whoever he felt would care enough to come see her, after he had _already_ seen her.

The doctor came out of the hall with his hands casually tucked into the pockets of his lab coat. A stiff expression of mixed news hung monotonously on his face. Luke shot out of the chair and marched right up to him, anxiously hopping on his toes. Han and Kaila flanked him, listening intently.

"She's going to be fine," The doctor assured first. 

In unison, three sighs of relief escaped through three separate smiles, but shoulders stiffened again for the _other_ news. 

The doctor carefully and quietly explained Kess' physical state, "She has second and third degree burns on her arms. We had to graph five inches of synth-flesh to unrepairable areas, but the remaining burns will heal completely within a few weeks. She has a minor concussion on the right side of her skull, but the brain tissue was repairable. She has a broken collarbone, and we were able to set it well, but we can't afford to fuse it until her circulatory system is back to normal. She received some shrapnel on her back and the back of her head, but all came out easily. She has several large bruises, on her left shoulder, hip, face, and a variety of other places.

"The problem I am most concerned with is her muscular and circulatory systems. She froze in a coma for nearly three days. By all books in the medical field, she _should_ have died, but her systems are still operating weakly, but steadily. We are giving her scheduled blood and physical therapy treatments to exercise her systems back up to functioning normally. She'll need time more than anything. If she continues to heal at the rate that she has been, she should move out of critical care in two or three days." 

A smile flashed on Luke's face from ear to ear. He stepped backward and shot up a fist into the air, "Yes!" _She's alive! Kesselia is going to live._ "That's my girl." _That's _**_my__ girl. _Kaila snickered at him.**

"Um, Jedi Skywalker?" the doctor added gently.

The smile faded only slightly from Luke's face. She was going to live, and anything else, he could work around.

The doctor's eyes met Luke's sympathetically, his voice barely muttered the bad news, "She lost the baby."

Luke's smile dissolved. 

"Baby?" Kaila's eyebrows shot up.

Luke backed up step out of a sudden lack of balance.

"What baby?" Han asked, raising a brow at Luke for a moment. Then slight pride filled his eyes at the kid.

Luke tried to pull his heart back out of his stomach. Wide eyes were fearfully fixed on the doctor.

The doctor shook his head, "You didn't know." 

Luke took another step backward, dropped his gaze to the floor, and shook his head.

The doctor licked his lips and thought for a second, then raised his chin again. "When we performed her first blood treatment, we found a high level of HCG in her system. Females produce a hormone as soon as an egg is fertilized. But when we scanned her reproductive system, it appeared to be near the end of a strong cycle. No live egg was detected. She couldn't have been more than four weeks along. So it's possible that _she_ didn't know either."

Luke folded his hands tightly together and pressed his thumbs to his lips, turning away from the crowd. There were only a few possible explanations, and not one of them settled in his stomach well.

The doctor tried to console him. "Miscarriages in the first month of a pregnancy are actually quite common when the mother's physical state is stressed, but there's no way a baby could have made it through what she went through, no matter how far along she was." 

He watched Luke's intently fearful eyes dart around the floor in thought. He seemed awfully crushed at this news. "If you like, I'll do a repro test on her after she moves out of critical care to make sure she can still have children, but there was no damage to her reproductive system indicating that she can't." 

Luke shifted his weight on to one leg, looking almost as beaten and depressed as he did when he thought she was dead. He found his voice, but it was as stiff as his jaw. "Can I see her?"

The doctor nodded, "In a few minutes. They're just finishing up a blood treatment on her now. I'll come and get you as soon as they are done. Only one visitor at a time, and only five minutes each at that." The doctor paused for a moment then softened his voice, "She's very weak. I haven't told her about the miscarriage yet. Would you like me to wait?"

Luke bit his upper lip and shook his head, "I'll tell her."

With a polite nod to Luke then Han and Kaila, he turned and left the trio in the waiting room alone.

Kaila stepped to Luke gently. "He said she can still have more," she reminded.

Han focused on the good news instead of the bad. "I didn't know you had it in you, kid."

Luke stepped away from them and muttered, "It wasn't mine."

The smile disappeared from Han's face. He glanced at Kaila, and Kaila nervously met his eyes.

Luke's voice was shy and quiet, not wanting to hear the answer but needing one. "Did Kess have a uh. . . suitor?"

"Yeah," she furrowed her brows at him, "_You!_"

Luke rubbed his hand over his face and sat down in the line of waiting chairs. "Did she. . . spend time. . . with anybody over the last few weeks? Besides me?"

Kaila sat down next to him, curling her lip. "Those things aren't one hundred percent effective you know. Accidents do happen."

"Kaila," Luke breathed impatiently, "I never touched her."

Kaila head rocked back and forth at him. "That's not what she told me."

Luke's eyes shot to her in clear annoyance.

Han sat down on Luke's other side, folding his hands together on his knees. His voice low but casually curious, "Was there something you forgot to tell me about?"

Luke threw another indignant glance at Kaila. "Okay," he nodded admittance, "but I never touched her _that_ _much_." Then he glared at Han's prideful smile, "Shut up."

There were only three possible explanations that he could think of, rather, three possible fathers. Taking the calendar back four weeks would put it right before she found out about Vader. So, Kess either had an affair with someone on Yavin that Luke didn't know about, she was molested by her father, or she was raped by the Imperials. Not one of those explanations was easy to swallow.

The doctor stepped out of the hall. "Jedi Skywalker?" He nodded that Luke could go in.

Luke got out of his chair but paused, staring at the floor. Did he really want to know the answer? Did he have a _right_ to know?

Luke glanced at Kaila. His expression hardened as he admitted to himself that he _had_ to know. Whether he asked now, or asked later, he had to ask. His feet took slow steps toward the hall. He found his peace and tried to define the angle to go about bringing the subject up. He paused again in front of the door, squared his shoulders, took a deep breath and went inside.

Dim lighting shined down from the corners of the ceiling and medical units blinked or slept at the sides of the intensive care room. The bed was in the middle of the floor, and another comfortably dim light shined down on the white sheet. A 21B droid stood to the side on standby mode, keeping the patient under constant surveillance; an IV unit towered over one side of her head, pumping liquids back into her arm, and an oxygen unit had been rolled up to tower over next to it, gently forcing her lungs to breath through a tube that lay across her upper lip. 

She still looked asleep. She lay prone on the bed and flat on her back to ease the pumping of her own blood. Her breasts were soft swells in the lightly draped sheet. They had stripped her of clothing and covered her with only a single white sheet; its top end was folded over to lay flat and neat lay across her chest. Her hair had been wound into a thick cord of a ponytail that lay against her shoulder and was wrapped in a medically sterile cloth to keep it contained. 

Luke shoved his hands in his pockets and limped cautiously over, looking down at her peaceful face and her bandage covered arms. She still looked _dead_. Her skin had a grayish tint to it. Her cheeks were sunken and the fingertips protruding from the bandages were slightly shriveled. She looked like she had instantly lost twenty pounds. There was small bandage on her head for the concussion and small nicks and cuts had been tended to on her face and neck. She looked like she had been prepared for her own funeral.

Luke took in a deep, quivering breath and reached out to touch the back of her forearm, just to find some sign of life. 

Her skin was cool, but not cold. Her Force print was sleepy and dim, but not gone. Luke closed his eyes and gently closed his entire palm over the good part of her forearm, soaking that in and meditating at the same time. Her eyes fluttered open and her lips parted for shallow, difficult breathing through her mouth. Luke opened his eyes as he heard it. She was breathing. She was moving. She was alive. Anything else, he could work around. He reminded himself of that, no matter whose baby it was.

Her eyes slowly opened. What once was mahogany colored was now the shade of light oak on bloodshot. But when those tired eyes focused on Luke, they smiled. "Hi," she whispered weakly.

It was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen.

Luke settled his hip against the side of the bed and let his thumb brush unspoken thoughts onto the skin of her forearm. "Hi," he said back, just as weakly.

She closed her eyes slowly, licked her lips, and looked at him again, "Did we win?"

Luke let out a quick flash of a smile. It would figure that it would be the first thing she would ask. He kept his voice at a hushed whisper since that was all she could manage. "Yeah, they never made it to Yavin base. . . . We got hit pretty bad, but we won."

A tired smile crossed her face. "Good." She took a slow breath and her eyes drifted between open and closed. "The girlies okay?"

Luke nodded. "Yeah. Joanne was hurt bad, but she'll make it."

Kess took several seconds to close her eyes and simply breath. She pulled them open again with soberness in her expression. "So, what's the damage report on me? Why do I feel like death warmed over?"

"Technically, Kess, you are." He watched her eyes move to him for an explanation. A sliver of the grimness returned to his face. "We thought we lost you when the Vengeance blew. And I guess you tucked your mind away to stay alive in the gunboat, so I couldn't sense you." He shook his head. "We didn't find you until three days later. Even with Jedi tricks, it's amazing that you're talking to me right now."

Her eyes looked at him quizzically. "You thought I was dead?"

"We all did." Luke pressed his lips and nodded at her. "You even made the news."

She winced sympathetically at him, "I'm sorry."

He shook his head at her apology and smiled a little. "You did what you were told. You came back. That's all that matters."

She inhaled the same time the oxygen unit pushed air into her lungs and gave him a tiny nod with a tiny grin. "How long do I have to stay here?"

She was anxious to get out of medlab even though she didn't yet have the strength to even lift her hand up and take his. He grinned a little at that and brushed his palm on her forearm a little more. "You'll stay here as long as they keep you here," he whispered, but knew he'd have to give her a damage report on her health to back up that statement. 

He rubbed his lips together and looked at nothing on the sheet over her body and slowly drew the courage up to tell her. He didn't have a right to know. He wasn't her boyfriend, not really, not yet. But he was her Jedi Master, at least currently; he was her Commanding Officer, for a while; and he was at least a close friend, forever. Even if, as those, he still didn't have a right to know, at least he had the right to ask.

He told her about the burns on her arms, she only nodded. He told her about the concussion and the bruises and the broken collarbone. She nodded at that too. It was as if she were remembering the events that caused them only as he said them and then simply took them at face value. He described the damage to her systems from the three days in a T-suit in space and she grinned a little at that, realizing aloud why she felt like death warmed over.

He continued with the same soft whisper. "The doctor also said that you lost a baby." He swallowed hard and looked for her eyes again, trying to stay brave, but squirming for an explanation.

Kess smiled wearily. "Damn the bad luck." 

Luke glanced down to her arm again.

"Cheenan," she whispered so tiredly that her sentences were coming out in single words now.

Luke sucked in a stiff breath and his jaw tightened. Anger boiled inside of him. Flashes of what probably happened sped through his mind. He felt helpless and guilty that he didn't do something to prevent it and tried to accept that there was nothing he could have done.

"Artificial insemination," she whispered.

That didn't make him feel much better. He crooned his neck to face the ceiling, sucked in a loud, angry breath, and gritted his teeth.

"Find your peace," her whisper grinned.

His head dropped and hung from his neck with a reluctant grin. 

She was handling it all better than he was. She was wiser, quieter; she was already at peace about the whole thing. A wise smile crossed her pale lips, the color of her eyes darkened and the happiness brightened.

He found her eyes again and Luke laughed inside, deliriously happy, emotionally exhausted, and thoroughly relieved. 

She drew in another breath in synch with the oxygen unit and closed her eyes. "Sleep."

Luke nodded. He leaned over to kiss her on the forehead and took one last long look at her before limping quietly out the door.

**  **  **  **  **  **  **

With heavy use of the healing trance, Kess moved out of critical care within two days. Luke visited in medlab daily and even though her health and energy were returning by leaps and bounds, they had no long talks or deep discussions. She never asked if her training was over and he never said she'd graduated. He simply gave her a datapad and one day and handed over some reading material with a light kiss on her temple. 

Kess smiled at the memories as she read it all. It was so long that she had to take several naps in between. It started out as quick notes and drifted into more detailed mistakes and plans of her training. Then it drifted into a medium to vent at. Each entry grew progressively personal and each entry grew progressively longer. Her faced flushed with embarrassment of the little things she had hoped he didn't notice, her face glowed with the early signs that he cared about her in return, and she slammed her hand over her eyes for his honest responses at some of her mistakes. The final entry of the journal was dated the night she had quit.

**The worst possible thing you could do while training a female Jedi Apprentice is fall in love with her.**

Kess tried to bite her bittersweet smile away when she finished and chewed on her lower lip as she paged down to the end of the document, wondering if there was anything else. She found one last page of text, addressed specifically to her.

**Kesselia,**

**You were the worst person I could have had for a first apprentice. You were my lab rat. And I knew I would learn a lot by training you, but I had no idea how much. I learned a lot about the Force from all those debates we got into over the Dalthomir records, and I learned a lot about teaching from all your mistakes, and near misses, and complaining. But you also taught me how to be human again, and that I could still be human and a Jedi at the same time. It's refreshing to really know that. I didn't realize how much I hid behind my lightsaber until you took it away from me and threw it into the bushes. I still have to learn what to do when my lightsaber is not there to hide behind, but at least I have a good teacher.**

**I went to pick up your Jedi Pin at the jewelry store today. When I was waiting for the droid to get it from the back, I looked around a little at the other stuff they had and found all those tiny little symbols of permanent mates. I wondered if I'd ever get any use out of one. Lo and behold, the droid brought your pin out in a ring box. Sweetly ironic. You said once that you didn't think I was the type to settle down. Well, just for the record, I am. In due time, I will. And right now, I'm hoping that you're there when I do.**

**Love, Luke**

The usual energy and Rebellious attitude of Yavin base came back to life within a few days; slow enough to respect the dead but fast enough to meet the needs of the living. The excess fleet eventually packed up their crews and went home, dropping off thousands of Imperial POWs at public stations along the way, and left the base with most of the same half a million people that it had before. Pilots pulled in the last of the space garbage from the battle that impeded hyperspace. Politicians hurried to pull into the New Alliance those systems the Imperials had suddenly left behind. Repair busted their asses to get the fighter groups back on their feet. With so many Imperial losses at the Battle of the Line, the Military Council began to plan the final capture Coruscant before another leader emerged at the Imperial Palace. 

All this new energy came to a happy hush at the dawn of Victory Day. So much work had to be done that there really wasn't enough time to put up a substantial carnival. Leia made sure that someone setup an all-hands barbeque-like picnic on the green quad. Kaila and Yana made sure that someone threw a party at the South Base Warehouse for the grittier partiers. Admiral Drayson made sure there were enough working fighters to throw out some fireworks. And Mon Mothma made sure there was a medal to hang on the chest of a few girly girls during the morning ceremony.

Kess didn't find out about it until the night before, when she finally checked out of medlab with a clean bill of health and found everybody in Leia's office taking a break from politics and eating take-out. She already knew she was too late to debate her way out of receiving the medal but muttered complaints about it anyway. She was appreciative of the thought, but still uncomfortable with the whole hero thing.

Luke didn't appear to take sides about it at first. He clearly thought she and her friends deserved one but also knew that it was practically against Jedi practices to depend on such symbols. Leia closed the argument with an order that they weren't giving the medal to her for Kess' sake; they were doing it for the PR sake.

Kess winced at that, wondering why the galaxy would care if she got recognition, and saw Luke, quietly sitting on the couch with datapads in his lap and a paper dish in his hand, smirking like a cat. When she focused on him, she saw his free hand rise into the air and spin the tiny Jedi Pin in his hand. He didn't need to say it aloud. _That_ was the PR Leia was talking about.

Kess ducked away shy grin and let them have their way.

As many Rebels packed into the Grand Cathedral as would fit. The speeches were worded to respect as many religions as they could with an hour. They collectively honored sacrifices and rejuvenated resolve. Even though the Battle of the Line was still recent, they knew they'd hit the Empire hard. It felt that the war was nearly over. So, there were a great many smiles gracing the Cathedral when the girlies marched down the center of the crowd, there was a happy tone in Mon Mothma's voice when she draped the brown ribbon over thier heads, and there was one hell of a cheer when Luke pulled his hands away from Kess' collar and let her turn around. 

They had both been on their best behavior despite the growing glow in the Force. But when she stood there with her back to him and several steps down in front of him, the Force started to actually tingle. Luke and Kess had a private, wordless conversation, right there on the stage; and not one of the thousands of rebels that applauded ever had a clue.

The cheers of the crowd turned to chatter and laughter when they were dismissed and several dozen people waiting on the sidelines to congratulate Kess personally. At Leia's request, Luke and Kess did their obligatory rounds in the social arenas of Victory Day. They carried on through the quad picnic and the South Base party, meeting and chatting and joking and bowing, depending on who they were talking to, and, by external observation, they looked to be friends that were so close they were getting bored with each other. When they had a chance to step aside and eat in the quad, alone but in public, they exchanged warm glances from time to time, but didn't actually talk to each other. 

They didn't need to.

The Kaila and Yana started to worry that something had gone wrong, Han and Wedge were convinced that it was just nerves and Leia suspected it was simply that incredible Jedi patience. After the fireworks, Leia found them momentarily separated. She invited Luke to bring Kess over for the family's Victory Dinner and hoped he would decline in the wake of a previous engagement.

Luke declined. . . and the only reason he offered was a grin.


	15. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

"Well, you requested 'alone'," Luke said as he flipped on a corner living room light and then the little kitchen's under-cupboard lights, "On Victory Night, this was the best I could do." He threw back a shrugging grin and washed his hands.

Kess couldn't argue with that. All the celebrating going throughout the base at the moment was sending a soft buzz of life on the Force. It made being in his apartment on a first date feel like they'd been stuffed into a closet at a high-school party. She stepped to the icebox and pulled out a blue sweetwater bottle and popped it open as though she lived there.

She leaned her hip against the counter, flipped her dark, sand colored hair over her shoulder, and watched him pull out bowls and utensils. They'd managed to change into civilian clothes, but Kess suddenly noticed they were still carrying their lightsabers. She yanked her new hilt off her hip and stood on her feet to release his from the D ring. As she did this, Luke rolled up the sleeves of his pale blue shirt and glanced at her with a grin in his eyes.

She put the lightsabers down on the farthest table she could find, stepped to the sink just as he stepped away from it, and washed her hands too. She moved next to him at the counter, quickly figured out what was for dinner by its ingredients, and started working on her own half of the project. They exchanged glances again, snickered in soft shyness, and broke the silence enough to chat casually while they cooked dinner. 

The topic bounced from sand people to storm troopers; A-wings to androids. They bumped elbows often and they brushed passed the other when they needed to step around. Luke worked on whipping up a thick batter and Kess worked on spicing up the meat part of Sulferian Meat Sticks. Their feeble attempt at making sly casual contact was shattered when Kess reached out her hand and grabbed his wrist before a spice dashed into the batter.

He froze and grinned strangely at the slimy, meat and spice covered hand that was wrapped around his forearm and rose his eyes and his brows at her.

"No seagan spice," she told him, letting go of him. "I'm allergic to it."

"Allergic huh?" He stood up straight again and started putting the tiny bottle back. "What happens if you eat it?"

"I'll lose my voice."

Luke angled his head, considering.

She elbowed him and giggled. 

Luke chuckled evilly. "I'll have to remember that." He whipped batter into a smooth paste and took a taste of it from an index finger. 

She watched him out of the corner of her eye, noticing the line of his jaw, the shape of his nose, the color of his eyebrows. . . . She reached over an open mouth in request for her own taste. Luke obliged and put a thickly dripping index finger to her mouth. She slurped off a small taste of it. It was only mildly suggestive, but just the feel of her tongue on his skin. . . . Luke considered that too. 

She faced her bowl again and smacked lightly at the taste of the batter. "I need some more bread crumbs in this," she said, pointing to her bowl of ground meat. Luke wiped his hands clean and fetched the bag. He stood close by her to pour just enough breadcrumbs into the bowl. She began to knead the stuff some more, digging her fingers deep into the slimy pile. Luke put the bag down and watched her hands work for a moment, and then he stepped behind her.

She glanced to see what he was up to but it was apparent soon enough. He cuddled his front against her back, reached his arms around her and dug his fingers into the bowl on top of hers. Together, their hands worked the crumbs and spices into the meat at a slow, sensuous pace. It was intimate, but not sexual; cozy, but not cute. Luke nuzzled his mouth behind her ear and drank in the feel of her body and her hands. She sank into him where she could, eventually closing her eyes and tilting her head in his direction. 

His breath quivered in her ear. He realized that their hands had stopped working. He pulled both sets of hands from the bowl and whispered into her ear. "Turn around."

Kess did. He held her hands out to keep from getting anything dirty and put her elbows around his neck. She held her hands as far from his hair and shoulders as she could. Luke made that easy to do. He set his hands on the corner of the counter and pressed his body against hers until she was leaning slightly backwards. Parted lips and bated breath intensified the moment. Deep eyes and a feather-soft touch enflamed it. Their lips folded together, and folded together again. He took her mouth in slow, sweet moves, enjoying every excruciating moment until they were kissing deep and full. There were no boundaries in the kiss; no subconscious worries or regrets. It felt like the first kiss. It felt like the only kiss they'd ever had. 

The kiss ended as slowly as it had begun and Kess was just as stunned and speechless as he was. They looked at each other nose to nose and with half open lids, catching their breath in each other's mouths.The intensity of the moment melted away into a tingly contentment. He could still feel the echo of her caress inside of his mouth. She must've learned some Jedi trick that he didn't know about, because he couldn't figure out how in she hooked him so completely without even having given him the drug yet.

He inhaled a deep, deep breath and carefully sighed it out as he moved slowly away, giving her a look as if the episode were all her fault, and moved back to his place at the counter.

She was still catching her breath when she turned back around and reached for the towel to wipe her hands clean. "Wow," she commented quietly. "Whose serve does that make it?" She grinned and started to giggle uncontrollably at the strange tickle that was in the air.

Luke ducked his head and chuckled, pulled in a deep breath to control it, then braced himself against the counter, ducked in again and laughed.

She reached over with a slimy hand and stuck her finger in his ear. Luke winced it away as he turned then stuck his finger in the batter and flicked it at her. 

She squealed and winced as the speckles hit her face. In retort, she grabbed a handful of meat and went at him with it. Luke growled in laughter as he blocked it. Wild, laughing eyes leered at each other as they pretended to threaten more of the food fight. He quickly tapped batter on the tip of her nose and Kess responded by flicking some at his face. He wrapped his arm around her and turned her around in a gentle headlock and threatened to smear his slimy, meat/batter/bread-crumbed palm all over her face. Kess squealed and struggled and giggled. Their feet shifted in the tangle. They're chests shuddered with laughter even as they pressed their mouths shut to try to look mean.

Luke's arm reached passed her shoulder and one hand struggled to hold hers from slipping away. His other hand reached slowly for her face, causing her to back further into him, which was the whole point.

Just as his big palm did the final approach to cover her face, Kess stretched her neck to tucked her mouth under his dimpled smile and bit his neck.

She held her teeth lightly but firmly on the cord of muscle. 

Luke froze in position. 

They stayed there for a long moment.

He licked his lips to new smile, "Is this a stalemate?"

She giggled into his neck and released her grip to suck out a kiss. As soon as she was done, Luke grabbed both her wrists with both his hands held them outstretched in front of her. Listening to her giggle, he pushed her with his body out of the main room and to the sink in the bathroom. 

He turned on the hypospray and shoved both sets of hands under it. The cool air dissolved the food from their skin. Luke rubbed her hands clean and rubbed his own hands clean, grumbling happily the entire time. He got a washcloth and cleaned off the tip of her nose, then used the same thing to clean out his ear. 

Kess glanced at their reflection in the mirror and soaked it up. 

Luke caught a glimpse and his swimming-pool-blue eyes did a double take, looking at her looking at them. He turned off the spray and used one hand to pull her hair away from one shoulder, then slid his arms around her waist. He watched her deep brown eyes shift and smile. The dusk had returned to her cheeks and the rose had returned to her lips. The bruises had vanished and the burns had healed. The only visible reminder of the training was the wisdom that occasionally sobered her playful eyes. Thank the Force training was over.

Luke realized it again. _Training is over._ His eyes sparkled at her through the reflection. "I love you."

Her smile brightened by degrees. "I love you, too."

He watched her pink lips move as the soft voice filled his ears. He soaked that up just as visibly as she did. 

The memory of the last eight months sped through both minds. Snapshots and images flitted without order or context: they way she blew up at her bangs in frustration, the way his tongue played with a molar when in deep thought; the feel of his forearm when they held hands on Dagobah, the feel of her fingers when she combed his hair back; the tightness of her olive colored tank top, the snugness of his black pants; his hands adjusting hers on a lightsaber hilt, her hands pulling his away from a datapad; the look in his eyes when he sputtered wine from his mouth, the look in her eyes when she giggled at him; his clean pressed khakis, her grease smudged coveralls; he pinned and straddled her against the ground, she tackled him and rolled over his body; the soft, supple body when she lay half naked in his arms, the strong, firm body when he lay half naked in her arms.

They both took a slow deep breath and started chuckling when they realized they'd done it simultaneously. Her voice was still warm, but easy, "We'd better get cooking."

A new grin rippled across his face as he eyed her reflection. "Let's skip dinner."

Her brows shot up as she laughed at that. 

Luke smiled playfully, "Your serve."

Kess chewed on the side of her tongue as she turned around in his arms, reached up for his face with both hands, and planted a big kiss on him. Luke was stunned at first, but that quickly melted away. He shut his eyes and drank in her scent, allowing his hands find their way to her hips and pulled her in deeper. The movements of her mouth slowed, her kiss went tender and she gradually pulled away, still kissing him just barely within reach of his tongue, teasing him into insanity. 

Luke's heartbeat fluttered in her glow. His veins went hot at the warm skin that touched him, and every ounce of peace he ever had went right out the window. 

Her brown eyes sparkled and purred. Luke finally admitted to himself that he had completely lost his mind. He felt drunk, insatiably eager. He licked his lips and enjoyed taste of electricity, basked in the tingling of the Force, and breathed. "That's a hell of a serve."

Boldness glinted in her eyes. She gave him a taunting smile, "Think you can beat it?"

He thought on this as a new grin grew in his eyes. He brushed his lips against hers, breathed her breath, and tickled her mouth with a feather soft touch. His lips folded slowly into hers in soft, gentle waves until her warm mouth caressed his cool one with excruciating intimacy. His arms tightened around her, flattening her closer against his body. Her fingers went into his hair; combing her nails lightly across his skin. His mouth was gentle and begging. Hers was willing and inviting. Their skin tingled, their minds sizzled, and their passion started to bubble over. 

Their tongues relaxed away, then their lips caressed against each other for a long, lingering moment. Luke pulled in a deep, easy sigh and tasted his lips, resting his forehead on hers to brushing the tip of her nose with his. Kess hummed quietly in approval and pure contentment. He opened his eyes just enough to see her and smiled at the noise. 

Then his hands gripped her waist and pressed her hips to him as he took a step. She wrapped her arms completely around his shoulders and pressed her whole body to him. He took her mouth again and took another step, guiding her blindly away from the sink. His palms groped gently up her sides, his thumbs outstretched to feel the soft mounds under her shirt. Her fingers combed into his hair and shifted her feet to his lead as though they were dancing. He came up for air and a deep, drunk look and then dove in to kiss her again. 

His mouth wouldn't let hers go, but his arms did so she could sink backwards across the bed. His body lowered steadily on top of her and she pulled his jaw back into her with both hands. His kisses drifted from her mouth to her chin to the nape of her neck. She rippled underneath him and dragged her claws across his shoulder blades. He pulled her knee around his thigh and pressed against her. The lights went dim. The Force sizzled like lightsabers crashing together.

And Luke proceeded to make Kesselia go completely speechless.

**  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  **  

March 19th, 1997

My deepest thanks to the original readers and real life girly girls:

Kim Maloof

Laurel Latham 

Rose Ivey

Marcie Galindo 

Rachel Nelson

Randi Heffern


End file.
